My research is in two (sometimes overlapping) areas: urban culture (1880-1940), in Britain, the US and (most recently) Ireland; and the popular place of the past in modern Britain.

My first book, After the Shock City: Urban Culture and the Making of Modern Citizenship, uses Manchester and Chicago to investigate the theory and reality of civic belonging and governance from the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, across a range of areas: philosophy; festivals; re-enactments; youth culture; and systems of welfare.

I am the principal investigator on an AHRC-funded project: ‘Voyaging through History: The Meanings of the Mayflower in Britain, 1620-2020’. Dr Martha Vandrei (Exeter) is the co-investigator, Dr Ed Downey (QUB) is the research associate, and we are partnered with the British Library and the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. This project traces the 'afterlife' of the voyage across the last four hundred years in Britain by looking at its portrayal in art, literature, and commemorations. For more information you can visit our website: http://voyagingthroughhistory.exeter.ac.uk/

I have also begun to explore (homo)sexuality in Belfast and its surrounding region from the late-19th to mid-20th century. I recently wrote a short article about this research for Gay Times (Jan, 2019) - if you would like a digital copy, please do get in contact via email.

My office drop-in hours are 12-1pm on Wednesday (during term time), but I'm always happy to meet for a chat in the campus cafe if you prefer - just send me an email.

I teach on the following courses:

HIS1002: Exploring History II - The Place of the Past in Britain, c. 1900-1950

HIS1005: History and Society

HIS2018: The Making of Contemporary Britain: 1914 to the present

HIS3077: Dissertation

HIS3128: Sin Cities? Everyday Life in the Modern Metropolis

MHY7035: Debates in History

MH7079: From Blitz to Blair: Exploring post war Britain

I can supervise undergraduate and postgraduate theses on modern British history and modern urban history (c. 1880-1960), especially on topics such as belonging and community, festivals and celebrations, historical re-enactment and pageantry, education and citizenship, and local government and governance.

I was awarded my PhD in Urban History from the University of Leicester in 2013. Before taking up my current post, I was an Early Career Lecturer at the Institute of Historical Research (2015-2016), and a Research Associate at King's College London (2013-2015).