Some years ago, during a break from an academic workshop in Calcutta, I found an inner cityscape that was a mix of overbuilt and rather shabby looking shops, oddly punctuated by the occasional Western-looking skyscraper. As a historian my eye…
Category: Blog
The Women’s History Network blog
Sign up now for our roundtable: ‘Lesbian Histories and the Long View’
Our Autumn Seminar Series launches next month, beginning with a special roundtable event, Lesbian Histories and the Long View, on Wednesday, 10 September 2025 at 4pm UK time. We are thrilled to welcome a dynamic panel of speakers: Dr Norena Shopland…
Rediscovering Josephine Fiddes and her forgotten Australian novel – Robyn Floyd
Josephine Fiddes was an English actress, vocalist, author and playwright who graced stages across three continents during the 19th century. Her creative output extended beyond acting to directing, writing one-act monologues and authoring novels. The one publication that survives The Little…
Beyond Formal and Informal: Giving Back Political Agency to Female Diplomats in Early Nineteenth Century Europe – Bart Mooibroek
When researching diplomatic challenges in early nineteenth century Europe, such as the Eastern Question or the Congress of Vienna, the subject matter can appear male dominated. The former refers to the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century,…
WHN Undergraduate Dissertation Prize 2024-2025
The Women’s History Network is offering one £250 prize for an undergraduate dissertation on any aspect of women’s or gender history (though with a strong focus on women) written during the 2024-2025 academic year. We welcome research on any period…
When Women Champion Women: The Female Team Behind ‘When Two of Us Meet’ Musical – Emily Simonian, Alena Kutumian and Rebecka Webb
Honouring Women’s History Through Musical Theatre In the world of musical theatre, where women are still underrepresented in leadership roles, When Two of Us Meet stands out as a project created, led, and supported by women. We are incredibly proud…
Uneven Progress: women, education, institutions and careers in the built environment
Women’s History Today: the Journal of the Women’s History Network is seeking expressions of interest for articles to be included in a Special Issue focused on tracing the education and career paths of women in the professions of the built…
Emotion and Space in the Mid-Victorian Women’s Suffrage Movement – Lucy McCormick
Separate Spheres The doctrine of the ‘separate spheres’ – women’s confinement in the home while men freely roamed the public world – is entrenched in popular imaginings of Victorian life. Historians have long debated the usefulness and accuracy of this…
Women and the Wild: women’s presence in the wild outdoors is controlled through myth and practice – Sarah Lonsdale
One of my most vivid memories from childhood, is of my mother reading the Nordic folktale ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’ to me. The tale, first collected in Norway in the mid-nineteenth century tells of a…