The Department of History has a vibrant and active research culture which promotes and fosters collaborative research links both within and external to the University. The involvement of our staff in a wide range of collaborative research centres and institutes as well as more informal research groupings and networks reflects the strength of our research. In addition to those listed below, the School has established relationships with a number of museums, galleries and other academic institutions.
The Department of History currently hosts two research centres and three networks.
Research Centres
Institute for the Study of Slavery (ISOS) - The Institute for the Study of Slavery is a multi-department centre which aims to pursue and publish research on contemporary, as well as historical, slavery in all parts of the globe and through all historical periods; to stimulate cross-cultural and comparative work on slavery.
Directors : Dick Geary, Department of History and Stephen Hodkinson, Department of Classics
Centre for International Business History (CIBH) – The overall aim of this Centre is to develop the study of British and International business history and to act as a mechanism to promote and disseminate research on business history across the University as well as enhance the profile of business history in the UK. Business history illuminates how business strategies develop within political, institutional and economic environments.
Directors : Chris Wrigley, Department of History and Mark Billings, Nottingham University Business School.
Research Networks
Urban Culture Network – Urban Culture Network comprises members from a range of disciplines and subject areas including History, Engineering (Built Environment), Geography, Modern Languages and Art History. Its recognised contribution to urban scholarship is due firstly to its very broad chronological span (from classical antiquity to the present day), secondly to its emphasis on international perspectives, and thirdly to its focus on the concept of urban cultures.
Director : Richard Goddard, Department of History
Belief and Ideology Research Network (BIRN) – The Belief and Ideology Research Network is the initiative of a group of historians in the Department of History with a collective interest in exploring the nature and significance of belief and ideology across all historical periods and all geographical areas of the world. BIRN aims to stimulate and sustain debate and dialogue between historians and those working in disciplines both within and outside the humanities and social sciences on belief and ideology as human phenomena and as historical and theoretical concepts. The network does not seek to define these terms but rather to explore their ongoing meaning and significance and to advance a better understanding of the relationship between belief and ideology in the past and present.
As well as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas the network aims to foster collaborative research links between historians and those working in other disciplines, and to establish partnerships with those outside academe in order to transfer knowledge that will be of benefit to the wider community.
Please see more information about BIRN 
.
Nottingham Histories of Work - This research group will develop new approaches to the history of work that will focus on the cultures of work and the meanings attached to work in different epochs and places. Studies of work and labour, both free and unfree, are often confined to narrow chronological periods and confined geographical areas. The aim of this collaboration will be to produce fresh perspectives by posing questions for comparative study across long time-periods and studying interactions, influences and cross-cultural transfers between different regions of the globe. The project is inherently interdisciplinary and international in nature. We seek to incorporate expertise from other disciplines within the university in the first phase of the project. Subsequently, we will create links with scholars working in other institutions in the UK and internationally. A series of four workshops will be held, starting October 2010, to establish inter-disciplinary collaborations within the university. These workshops will address the themes of defining work; cultures of work and idleness; changing landscapes of work; and work and the life cycle. Details of these workshops will be posted on the school website in June.
If you are interested in contributing to this research group, please contact Dr Sarah Badcock, Department of History .