As part of its mission to support and facilitate history research and practice across the UK and beyond, the IHR is seeking to develop a new programme of online Partnership Seminars, to launch in January 2021.

About the Partnership series

The Partnership Seminars will bring together academics, professionals and practitioners in history and related disciplines and fields (GLAM, heritage, etc). They will aim to open up inter-disciplinary and cross-sector dialogues, kick-start new conversations, bring together different approaches and expertise in a chosen field, and forge new collaborations and networks across the UK and beyond.

Current lockdown and social distancing measures associated with COVID-19 have helped us to discover new digital means of sharing our research, which have the potential to draw in more diverse participants and build wider-reaching networks and platforms. IHR (and School of Advanced Study) online events have consistently attracted large national and international audiences. The IHR Partnership Seminars are part of the wider IHR ambition to pilot new ways of working in history, exploring digital platforms and their potential to support more diverse, imaginative and innovative partnerships and research networks.

The IHR is already home to a prestigious series of research seminars, covering many subject areas and time periods. The Partnership Seminars build on this, but also begin an ambitious new phase in the IHR’s role as a ‘meeting place’ for historians of all kinds. In addition to their digital reach, the Partnership Seminars’ collaborative format ensures they address original and topical subject areas, now made possible via online technologies and collective working.

In this first phase, the IHR hopes to establish up to three new online Partnership Seminars. Each successful Partnership Seminar series will be organised by its own convenors (arranging programme, inviting speakers, chairing events etc), with the IHR providing support, publicity, and funds to cover the cost of a Zoom licence. In the first instance, Partnership Seminars will be approved for a period of one year. For some series –- for example, those seeking to make a timely intervention in a current debate –- a one-year programme may be sufficient. Otherwise, all IHR Partnership Seminars will be reviewed and potentially renewed at the end of each year.

Invitations to create a new national / international IHR Partnership Seminar

To be eligible, proposed seminar series must include:

  • Convenors from a minimum of three different institutions. At least one convenor should be from a UK university. Convenors may also be based at other kinds of institution, including museums, archives, and heritage organisations or sites. Convenors may include freelance practitioners in a related field. Convenors may also be based at an international institution (outside the UK); indeed, we encourage seminars founded on international partnerships where this best promotes the research focus. A typical seminar would likely have between three and eight convenors. Convenors will be actively involved in programming, organising, promoting and participating in the online seminars.
  • A central focus on fostering inter-disciplinary and cross-sector exchange, and a fresh and imaginative approach to topics in history and applied history (broadly conceived).
  • A clear, compelling and timely rationale for the seminar series. This could be a one-year programme tackling a particular question, or making a timely intervention in a current debate. Alternatively, the seminar may be conceived as potentially more open-ended, focused on a clear thematic area.
  • Commitment to a programme of at least three events over the academic year 2020-21.
  • A commitment to involving early-career scholars throughout the series, whether as invited speakers or convenors, and an attention to diversity and inclusion throughout the programme.

Application form and deadline

We understand the pressures facing academic staff at present, as well as the challenging situation for colleagues in other sectors and professions (e.g. heritage, GLAM), many of whom are currently furloughed.

We want to give interested applicants enough time and space to develop their proposal, so are asking for responses to this call by Friday 16 October 2020. Applicants will be contacted with decisions as soon as possible after that.

We welcome informal enquiries from anyone interested in proposing a Partnership Seminar. Please contact Professor Catherine Clarke to discuss potential ideas.

Please submit your application for an IHR Partnership Seminar via this online form.