Here at the University of Birmingham we have a wonderful departmental History Society! This blog gives you the opportunity to meet the brilliant student committee members that are running the society this academic year. They may even offer you some top tips!
President: Sarah McGuinness @sarahmcg12
Year of Study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Northampton
Favourite Society Memory: Organising events as social sec last year and seeing them come together, especially the coffee crawl, Inhumane bar crawl and the ball!
Favourite Historical Period: Anything modern with aspects of gender; I’m doing my dissertation on lower class Victorian women.
Most looking forward to: Liaising with committee members to bring innovative events together in the aftermath of a pandemic. Also seeing the society flourish with such a lovely committee to run it.
Top tip: Be prepared for seminars with reading. Being open to other perspectives will help you grow as a historian but also massively helps with critical thinking in essays!
Secretary: Jack Wooldridge @_jackwooldridge
Year of study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Manchester
Favourite Society Memory: History Ball 2019
Favourite Historical Period: 19th Century US History
Most looking forward to: Putting forward fresh ideas and working with others on the committee to make the society and its events even better.
Top tip: Give some thought to your module choices; don’t be afraid to try new areas of history. You can always return to something you’ve done before later on in the course!
Social Secretary: Grace Long @greyseaa_
Year of study: 2nd Year
Hometown: London
Favourite Society Memory: 2020 ball
Favourite Historical Period: Russian revolution
Most looking forward to: Putting on as many events as possible and helping to create a really friendly community.
Top tip: Utilise the library, Find it @bham is a great resource for e-books and articles, but you can widen your reading material and discover a new area of history you hadn’t considered before by going and exploring the library.
Social and Charity Secretary: Charlotte Hosford @__calicia
Year of study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Worcester
Favourite Society Memory: 2020 Ball
Favourite Historical Period: Modern Britain! I’m doing my dissertation on women post-ww2!
Most looking forward to: Organising regular events to bring the society closer together and extending that into the community through volunteering!
Top tip: Get involved in as much as you can in first year and talk to as many people as possible. Social media is also so underrated for meeting new friends, I met one of my best friends in a freshers group chat on Facebook!
Social Media Secretary: Liv Shanahan @oliviashanahann
Year of study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Watford
Favourite Society Memory: Society Trip to Dublin 2019
Favourite Historical Period: 20th Century Global History
Most looking forward to: Working to provide the best society experience for our members and meeting incoming freshers!
Top tip: Make friends with people in your lectures and seminars (virtual/in person) It’s really helpful to know fellow history students to study with!
Treasurer: Emma Preston @emma_prestonx
Year of study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Salisbury
Favourite Society Memory: 2020 Ball
Favourite Historical Period: 20th century European History, especially Francoist Spain and Nazi Germany.
Most looking forward to: Being involved in organising the society events alongside a wonderful committee and managing its budget to make them as amazing as possible.
Top tip: Make the most of student ours, especially when writing essays!
Netball Secretary: Liv Saunders @livvsaunderss
Year of study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Dudley
Favourite Society Memory: Society trip to Dublin 2019
Favourite Historical Period: 20th Century American History
Most looking forward to: Getting to know new members of the society through social and sporting events.
Top tip: Make the most of feedback from tutors and AWAS; even if you’re getting high grades in your essays, there’s always room for improvement!
Football Secretary: Ben Holland @_benholland__
Year of study: 3rd Year
Hometown: Taunton
Favourite Society Memory: Beating Match of the Day society 5-0 on Bournbrook 3G pitches.
Favourite Historical Period: War and Society in the late modern period.
Most looking forward to: Beating Match of the Day society again this year and working to organise society events.
Top tip: Use AWAS (the Academic Writing Advisory Service) as its great to help you adapt to the new styles of essay writing.