13 June 2016
Having just been to see Race, the (rather boring, I have to say) bio-pic about the great African American athlete, Jesse Owens, I found myself thinking about people like Owens, and Joe Louis, and contrasting them with Muhammad…
9 June 2016
This Friday will witness the funeral of Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer in history and a figure whose importance transcended sport. Hundreds will attend his funeral and many thousands more around the world will mourn his passing because…
16 February 2016
Last Saturday, while on my four month stay in the USA, I took the opportunity to visit the nearby International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina. This museum is in the Woolworth building, which holds a special…
18 January 2016
How often is “Happy Birthday”, the song by Stevie Wonder, played to celebrate people’s birthdays? It features quite a lot on Radio 2 … but how many people realise the song was written by Wonder in 1981 as…
15 January 2016
Students took part in the first ever History Dissertation Day at The Wilson Gallery in Cheltenham. January can be a very stressful time for third-year students approaching the final few months of their undergraduate studies. Weighing heavy on…
4 December 2015
The commemorations this week of the arrest of Mrs Rosa Parks on 1st December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, remind us that historians often seem to be obsessed with remembering “great” people or “key” moments in History. For many…
30 October 2015
October has been a busy month this year in Cheltenham. In addition to the renowned Cheltenham Literature Festival at the beginning of the month, there have been a number of events for Black History Month in Cheltenham including…
8 May 2015
Among all the celebrations of VE Day, you might want to look out for “First Days of Peace” scheduled for Monday 11th May at 7.30 pm on BBC! West. Presented by Bonnie Greer, the half-hour documentary focuses on…
1 March 2015
Many congratulations to our colleague Neil Wynn, who after twelve years of service has been made Emeritus Professor by the University, we are more than thrilled to know that his expertise will remain in the University. On February…
19 February 2015
At last, a feature film that looks at Martin Luther King and Civil Rights – and very good it is too. But is Selma a great film? Does it compare to 12 Years a Slave? In my view…