Historians Defend Academic History as UK Universities Face Existential Threat
In a feature for History Today, four historians from the UK highlight a critical threat to the discipline of history within UK universities. Martha Vandrei of the University of Exeter emphasizes the need for historians to prove their relevance in light of a growing emphasis on law, defense, business, and certain sciences. She references Lord Bolingbroke's belief in the inherent value of history. Susan-Mary Grant from Newcastle University points out that Google's AI summary trivializes history as "a useless list of old facts," citing The Saturday Review from 1894. Joy Porter of the University of Birmingham cautions that reliance on market forces could lead to a decline in historical scholarship. David Andress from the University of Portsmouth stresses that understanding society's actions requires a strong foundation in history.
Key facts
- Martha Vandrei is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Exeter.
- All historians at the University of Exeter are being asked to justify their existence and 'strategically align' with a vision that sees the humanities as dead weight.
- Susan-Mary Grant is Professor of American History at Newcastle University.
- Joy Porter is 125th Anniversary Professor of Indigenous & Environmental History at the University of Birmingham.
- David Andress is Professor of Modern History at the University of Portsmouth.
- Lord Bolingbroke was an 18th-century historian who said, 'The love of history seems inseparable from human nature, because it seems inseparable from self-love.'
- The Saturday Review in 1894 recognized history as a subject 'on which every educated man …considers himself competent to form his own judgment.'
- Leopold von Ranke was a German 'father of empirical history' who aimed to tell the past 'how it essentially was.'
Entities
Artists
- Martha Vandrei
- Susan-Mary Grant
- Joy Porter
- David Andress
- Lord Bolingbroke
- Herodotus
- Leopold von Ranke
- E.H. Carr
- J.H. Plumb
Institutions
- University of Exeter
- Newcastle University
- University of Birmingham
- University of Portsmouth
- History Today
- The Saturday Review
Locations
- UK
- Exeter
- Newcastle
- Birmingham
- Portsmouth