Skip to main content

Postgraduate research in History

 

History at the University of Exeter brings together a lively and dynamic group that boasts some of the leading academic historians in the country. Our staff provide postgraduates with a considerable breadth of experience and research expertise across the full range of the discipline, from post-Roman Europe to the contemporary world, covering both European and extra-European history.

We are among the upper ranks of History departments in the UK in terms of the quality and intensity of our research. Research is integral to all our activity. All members of staff are research active and research and publish at the highest level. Staff in the department research political, economic, social, cultural, religious, medical, environmental, maritime, naval, military and diplomatic history. We range in time from the early medieval period to the late 20th century. We have particular strengths in the history of Britain and continental Europe, but also focus on the history of the United States, Africa, and India. A number of research centres are linked with the work of the Department and organise seminar series with regular meetings through the academic year which are an important meeting place for postgraduate students to hear, discuss and present research.

Explore our research centres and research projects to find out more about our current research topics.

Visit our History staff profiles pages for details on individual staff research interests and publications.

Our current PGRs

In History at Exeter we're proud of the research carried out by our PhD students. There are currently around 80 PhD students in the Department, many of whom maintain an online personal profile detailing their research activities. Follow the links below to find out more about them and their research projects.

StudentResearch titleLead supervisor
Deema Alhodaif The Status of Bahrain between 1880-1907 and its Relationships with the British Empire: A Protectorate or Not? Professor Richard Toye
Matthew Beebee Deindustrialisation, place and belonging in England since 1960 Professor Jon Lawrence
Lisa Berry-Waite The parliamentary election campaigns of women candidates in Britain, 1918-1931 Professor David Thackeray
Andrew Binding Living at Home: People, Spaces, and the Changing Domestic Environment in the Early Modern South West England. Professor Jane Whittle
Jamie Bryson The Russian Empire and Internal Security in the First World War Dr Matt Rendle
Laura Burnett ‘For Change and Charitie’: How were seventeenth century trade tokens used and understood by contemporaries? Professor Henry French
Wendy Clarke Pilton and Barnstaple Priories: The Landscape Context, Life Course and Social Interactions of Two Small Dependencies Professor James Clark
John Clews Private Patients in Pauper Palaces: Fee-paying Patients in English County and Borough Asylums, 1880-1910 Professor Mark Jackson
Rowena Cockett The experience, value, and expression of emotions in thirteenth-century Iberia Professor Catherine Rider
Holly Conway Edward I’s castles of Wales: The experience, perception and impact of the medieval on the late Victorian and Edwardian populous of Britain. Dr Martha Vandrei
Richard Cooke Devon's economic development in the long fifteenth century Professor Jane Whittle
Gavin Davies Board Games, Britain, and the World, c. 1759-1860 Professor Paul Young
Anthony Delaney Cotqueans: Queer Domesticity in eighteenth-century England Professor Helen Berry
Gijs Drejier Maritime average and normative practice in the Southern Low Countries (Fifteenth-Sixteenth Centuries) Professor Maria Fusaro
Barbara Dunn ‘Astrology is higher and nobler than medicine and every physician must be an astrologer’: Practitioners, Practices and the 'Prognostical part of Physick' c. 1580-1700 Professor Jonathan Barry
Jake Dyble Transferring Costs in the Maritime Economy: Maritime Averages in Livorno (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries) Professor Maria Fusaro
Rhoda Evans Investigating Disorder in Malta: Policing in a British Colony Professor Martin Thomas
Thomas Fidler Cornwall's Border – Celtic Frontier or Anglicised Territory? Dr Garry Tregidga
Lydia Fisher Visualising Faith: Stained Glass Windows, Belief and the Parish in the English Church 1400-1600 Professor James Clark
Gearóid Fitzgerald A Unique Vision?: How was Gregory’s vision of authority and leadership novel? Professor Sarah Hamilton
Helen Frost The Representation of the Strategic Bombing Campaign against Germany in the Allied (both national and international) Media and the Interpretation and Reception of that Representation by the General Public, 1939-1945. Professor Richard Overy
Samuel Gillis Hogan Familiar with Fairies: A Study of Late Medieval and Early Modern Fairy Conjuring Texts Professor Catherine Rider
Yawei Han The ideas of Sidney & Beatrice Webb, their relationship of welfare state policy, and the development of the relevant policies. Dr Marc Palen
Yuhei Hasegawa A political and intellectual biography of Leopold Amery Professor Richard Toye
Linda Henderson  “Looking after the Babes” – Class, Gender, and the Nature of Scientific Improvement – a case study of the Aylesbury Duck Industry 1820-1920. Professor Henry French
Joshua Hockley-Still Euroscepticism in the Labour Party: The Role Played By The Labour Common Market Safeguards Committee From 1975 Professor Richard Toye
Jonathan Hutchinson A Prosopography of Glastonbury Monks from the Twelfth Century to the Dissolution Professor James Clark
Antonio Iodice Average - Transaction Costs and Risk Management during the First Globalization (Sixteenth-Eighteenth Centuries) "Average and seaborne trade in early modern Genoa, 1590-1700" Professor Maria Fusaro
Daniel Jewson From the Mad House to the Mental Hospital: Institutional Subcultures in the remaking of psychiatry, 1900-39 Dr Ana Antic
Li Jiang Wage Labour in Gentry Households of Early Modern England Professor Jane Whittle
Kaitlin Emelie Johnson By mere chance, the modus operandi for the use of foreign language in Eighteenth and Nineteenth-century British Maritime History Professor Maria Fusaro
Samantha Jones Back from the Brink: Laying the Foundations of the Modern RNLI, 1850 – 1897. Dr James Davey
Charlotte Kelsted Intimate Colonialism: British Women and the Population of Mandate Palestine Dr Stacey Hynd
Polly Lowe Morality and the Market: Contested Commodification in Eighteenth-Century England Professor Sarah Toulalan
Jesse Lynch The Coming of Paper: The Transformative Effect of Paper Diffusion in Late-Medieval England Professor James Clark
Maria-Teresa Marangoni The Shape of Disease: Do Changing Contexts Produce Shifting Perceptions of Disease? The Case of Measles in Italy. [part of PhD project for which I had applied to: How Italy Became a Leader for the Global Health Security Agenda. Global Health Regimes and Local Health Governance: An Historical-Anthropological Study of an Intricate Web of Relations] Dr Dora Vargha
Eleanor March Tewkesbury Abbey: an interdisciplinary study of the church and its material culture from its medieval origins Professor James Clark
Judith Mawer Mysticism, Alchemy, and the Eirenic Impulse: how the Welsh theosopher, Thomas Vaughan (1621-1666), responded to the political, religious, and intellectual upheavals of mid seventeenth-century Britain Professor Jonathan Barry
David Mottishaw From Factory to Frontline: A Social and Cultural History of British Tanks during the Second World War Professor Richard Toye
Robert Nantes Bankruptcy in eighteenth century England: A social account. Professor Jonathan Barry
Martin Newman British Politicians and the Aircraft Industry 1964 - 1979 Professor Richard Toye
Alison Norton A Castle's Role: An interdisciplinary study of how castles individually expressed socio-cultural ideologies in England’s medieval south-west Professor Sarah Hamilton
William Patrick The Office of Prime Minister under Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald Professor Richard Toye
Daniel Phillips The proximity of purpose in Colonial Zoological Gardens: An entangled history of Empire and the Establishment of The Calcutta Zoological Gardens, 1867-1908 Dr Gajendra Singh
Iona Ramsay Martyrs and Memory: The Politics of Memorialising Anti-Communist Spiritual ‘Resistance’ in Romania Professor James Mark
Jack William Anthony Reeves The Freedom Bus: A Palestinian Activist Narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (or Dynamic). Dr Emily Bridger
Matthew Richardson A fourth branch of government: U.S. Government and Press Relations during the Lucky Dragon incident, Cuban Missile Crisis ad Chernobyl. Dr Matthias Reiss
Jane Saul Calculation and Compassion: Caring for the Poor in Eighteenth Century Battersea Professor Henry French
Isabel Sawkins Official Memorialisation of the Holocaust in Post-Soviet Russia. Professor James Mark
Hannah Slajus The Body as Medicine: Human Ingredients in Seventeenth Century Britain. Professor Sarah Toulalan
Emil Sokolov Addressing Immigration: A Study of Conservative and Labour Election Addresses and Immigration Issues 1960-80. Professor Richard Toye
Harriet B F Winstanley C Tait Lordship and Religion in Late-Medieval South-East England. Professor James Clark
Joanna Thomas Britain’s seafaring men and women: an analysis of the maritime labour force 1850 – 1911 Professor Maria Fusaro
Balint Tolmar The “Adria”-Project: East-South Relations and the European Socialist Countries' Quest for Energy Security in the Post-Oil Shock Era Professor James Mark
Diana Valencia Duarte The Food Question: The agrarian reforms and counter-reforms, and peasants’ food insecurity in Colombia, 1961-2013 Dr Stacey Hynd
Jessica Vining The Cistercians at Buckland Abbey Professor James Clark
Camille Mai Lan Vo Van Qui “The breaking in and training of horses in medieval Western Europe (11th- 15th centuries)” Professor Oliver Creighton
Marlen Von Reith The evolution of western political discourse on child soldiering since 1945: a comparative analysis of Britain and West Germany Dr Stacey Hynd
Lewis Wade Maritime Trade and State Regulation: Maritime Averages in France during the Seventeenth Century Professor Maria Fusaro
Heather Walker Elite British Women travelling on the continent in the long eighteenth century, 1783-1836. Professor Henry French
Hannah West 'Communities of piety: religious houses and the parish in late medieval Bridgwater. Professor Sarah Hamilton
Sonia Wigh The Body of Words: A Social History of Sex and the Body in Medieval India Professor Sarah Toulalan
Paul Williams The Trading Community of Exeter 1470-1570 Professor Jane Whittle
Marsha Wubbels A Healthy Interest: lay concerns with diet, exercise, and body weight in England, 1670-1830. Professor Sarah Toulalan
Kazuki Yamada A Genealogy of Later Life Sexuality: Sex and Time in Mid-Nineteenth to Late-Twentieth Century Science (c. 1850-1980) Professor Kate Fisher
Dukhee Yun Early-Modern British Infantry Combat: Its perception, Realities and the Question of ‘Modernity’ 1642-1745 Dr Martin Robson
StudentResearch titleLead supervisor
 Kensa Broadhurst  The status of the Cornish language in the years between the death of Dolly Pentreath in 1777 and Henry Jenner's publication of A Handbook of the Cornish Language in 1904. Dr Garry Tregidga
 Michael Bunney  The impact of World War 1 and 2 on coastal communities in South Cornwall. Dr Garry Tregidga
 Kenneth Clayton  What can the Wase papers held at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, add to the knowledge of education in seventeenth century England? Professor Henry French
 Andrew Climo  Onomastics (naming) in the Brittonic language of Early Cornwall (the period spanning pre-history to 1100CE). Dr Garry Tregidga
 Freya-Louise Evans  Postmodern Fairy Tales: A Study of the Influences of Welsh and Cornish Celtic folk tales on Contemporary Storytelling Dr Garry Tregidga
 Thomas Fidler Cornwall's border: Celtic frontier or Anglicised territory? Dr Garry Tregidga
 Christopher Freeman  Beaming the British empire: the Imperial Wireless Chain, circa 1900-1940 Professor Richard Noakes
 Megan Furr  Telegraphic Work and Spaces in Britain, 1850-1950 Professor Richard Noakes
 Lucy Hilliar  A Rising in the West: The Development of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Western Esoteric Tradition Professor Richard Noakes
 Donald Luxston  Forward Movement - Thomas Hooper and the Architecture of British Columbia Methodist Missions Professor Bryony Onciul
 Jason Mead  The Training of a Human Plant: Luther Burbank and American Society in the early 20th Century Professor Kristofer Allerfeldt
 Phillipa Mills  The last Cornish speakiers: their demographic identities, connestions, families, socio, economic and religious identities and connections. Dr Garry Tregidga
 Emelye Parker  OH BONDAGE UP YOURS: Punk, Women and Feminism in the UK 1976-1984 Dr Garry Tregidga
 Christopher Parsons  The Nassomonian and the Cornish Revival: what did James Dryden Hosken contribute to The Cornish School of Writing? Dr Garry Tregidga
 Jennifer Pina-Trengrove  Revival and relevance: The walled kitchen garden in 21st century public history Dr Garry Tregidga
 William Rees  "I Will Not Be Conquered": Popular Music and Indigenous Identities in North America Professor Bryony Onciul
 Amy Shakespeare  The Legacy of Material Culture Repatriation on Museum Practic Professor Bryony Onciul
 Paul Simmons  The role of footpaths in the 21stC within both a climate and ecological crisis and an emerging low carbon economy Dr Joanie Willett
 Rebecca J Stewart  Rioting in the Age of Emancipation: An Exploration into the Instigation and Outcomes of the 1866 Memphis Race Riots in Reconstruction Tennessee Professor Kristofer Allerfeldt
Robert Milan Maxwell Grant Voykovic BRITISH ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY MAGAZINES AND CONTEMPORARY HISTORIES OF THE GREAT WAR Professor Catriona Pennell
Onomastics (naming) in the Brittonic language of Early Cornwall (the period spanning pre-history to 1100CE).

Ex Historia is an online journal published by postgraduate history students at the University of Exeter.

 

Supervisors - all students have a primary and a secondary supervisor who provide regular, high quality advice, support and direction in their academic endeavours. You will work closely with your supervisors over three to four years (full time PhD) or six to seven (part-time PhD) to develop, investigate and write-up a project at the cutting edge of theological research.

Visit our staff profiles for more information about individual research interests or use the search box on the right of this page to find a supervisor.

Mentor - each student will also be assigned a mentor who will take on a pastoral role and mediate on any problems that arise during the period of study. Your mentor will keep in regular contact and will provide background stability and support.

View list of funding opportunities available to students on our research degree programmes in History.

We are committed to making your PhD a rewarding experience that will develop your skills and expertise. Undertaking a postgraduate degree with us also provides you with access to the wide range of support offered by our Career ZoneIn addition, postgraduate research students can access our Postgraduate Researchers' Programme, which covers a range of topics to help you to succeed during your research degree and to act as a springboard for your research career.

Graduate destinations

Below are some examples of initial jobs undertaken by History postgraduates who studied with us in recent years.

Please note that due to data protection, the job titles and organisations are listed independently and do not necessarily correspond.

Job titlesOrganisations
Historian
Researcher
Lecturer
Curriculum Area Manager
Senior consultant developer
Producer
Teacher
Research and Development Officer
Historian writer

Boydell and Brewer
Bristol University
Duchy College
Fox Historical
Green Gaia Films
Spinger Nature
Thales e-Security
The History Press
University of Bristol
University of Exeter