Faculty of History, University of Oxford

Faculty of History, University of Oxford
TypeHistory
Established1872
FounderWilliam Stubbs
Parent institution
University of Oxford
Location
Oxford, England
Websitewww.history.ox.ac.uk

The Faculty of History at the University of Oxford organises that institution's teaching and research in medieval and modern history. Medieval and modern history has been taught at Oxford for longer than at virtually any other university,[1] and the first Regius Professor of Modern History was appointed in 1724. The Faculty is part of the Humanities Division, and has been based at the former City of Oxford High School for Boys on George Street, Oxford since the summer of 2007, while the department's library relocated from the former Indian Institute on Catte Street to the Bodleian Library's Radcliffe Camera in August 2012.[2]

History

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In 1850 the school of law and modern history was created by university statute as one of three new degree-granting courses, which could only be taken after completing Literae humaniores or 'Greats'. In 1866 students were allowed to specialise solely in law and modern history. Between 1853, when the first examinations were sat, and 1872, 797 men graduated with such a degree. In the latter year the "uneasy alliance" of law and modern history was dissolved and the two subjects became separated.[3]

William Stubbs, Regius Professor of Modern History, founded the independent school of modern history in 1872, allowing post-classical history to be taught as a distinct subject at the university for the first time. By the time of Stubbs' retirement in 1884, the undergraduate degree in modern history had begun to rival Literae humaniores as the "training ground of the nation's elite".[4] Stubbs' own Select Charters (1870) and three-volume Constitutional History of England (1873-8) spearheaded the curriculum, educating young Englishmen about their "countrymen's long-standing commitment to freedom" and "what was peculiar, precious, and engrained" about being English.[4] Such an education was intended to prepare undergraduates for work as civil servants and imperial administrators. Students were taught via 'authorities', selected extracts of primary sources and works of secondary synthesis which left little room for alternative interpretation.[3] The school's first tutors, having taken their own degrees in Greats and suddenly required to teach a vast corpus of history extending from the fall of the Roman Empire to the end of the eighteenth century, welcomed their use. Stubbs' concentration on medieval English history defined the research and teaching favoured by the faculty for decades to come. In 1883 the board of modern history, which still exists today, was established to oversee the curriculum of the degree, with Stubbs as its inaugural chairman.[3]

In 1886 the faculty cemented its scholarly status with the establishment of its own publishing organ, The English Historical Review, the country's first academic history journal. A decade later in 1896 the faculty began hosting the annual Ford lecture series in English history, Samuel Rawson Gardiner being the first lecturer.[5] By 1901 the faculty was producing more graduates than any other degree course. Until 1913 it was required that all students take classical moderations before advancing to the modern history degree, leaving many undergraduates only two years to complete the entire syllabus. Tutors thus concentrated only on material which could appear in final examinations. The degree was examined solely in this way until 1908 with the introduction of an optional research thesis, though few students took up the offer to produce one initially.[3]

Organisation

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As with other departments at the University of Oxford, the Faculty of History is self-governing, being led by a rotating group of its academics. The Chair of the Faculty Board is the head of the History Faculty, who typically serves a three-year term.

Chairs of the Faculty Board

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Endowed chairs

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The Faculty of History is home to numerous professorships (or chairs), which are typically linked to a particular college. Each endowed chair is listed below alongside their associated college and current postholder.[15]

Research groups

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Entrance to Faculty of History, University of Oxford
  • Britain and Europe Group
  • Centre for Early Modern British and Irish History
  • Centre for the History of Childhood
  • Late Antique & Byzantine Studies
  • Modern European History Research Centre
  • OxCRUSH: Oxford Centre for Research in United States History
  • Oxford Centre for Medieval History
  • Research Cluster in History of Science, Medicine and Technology
  • Wellcome Unit for History of Medicine, Oxford[16]

Notable academics

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See also: Category:Historians of the University of Oxford

Notable alumni

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(See also the 'Historians' section of the page List of University of Oxford people in academic disciplines.)

References

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  1. ^ "Home | Faculty of History". History.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Bodleian History Faculty Library | Home". Bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d Reba Soffer (1987). "Nation, Duty, Character and Confidence: History at Oxford, 1850-1914". The Historical Journal. 30 (1): 77–104.
  4. ^ a b L. W. B. Brockliss (2016). The University of Oxford: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 501. ISBN 9780199243563.
  5. ^ "Ford Lectures in English/British History". Making History. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  6. ^ "Officers of the Faculty (June 2002)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Officers of the Faculty (January 2003)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Officers of the Faculty (January 2006)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Officers of the Faculty (April 2009)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Officers of the Faculty (October 2009)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b Conway, Martin. "The View from the Chair". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Faculty Office Holders (June 2021)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  13. ^ "Faculty Office Holders (October 2021)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Faculty Office Holders (November 2024)". Faculty of History, University of Oxford. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Academics". History Faculty, University of Oxford. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  16. ^ "University of Oxford Faculty of History > Research > Research Projects: A-Z". Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
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