Harry completed a Summer Research Scholarship on The Hague Peace Conferences with Associate Professor Maartje Abbenhuis.
When some people think of history or historical research they picture an old grey-haired professor poring over manuscripts in a dark study, or delivering mind-bogglingly boring lectures to half asleep students. I am frequently asked, what will I do with a history degree? Teach?
Not only does studying history provide you with essential career skills, it is also fun. I first considered applying for a Summer Research Scholarship in mid-2015, both to gain some valuable research experience ahead of intended postgraduate study, and to find something to occupy the summer months.
Being a summer scholar has given me the opportunity to work closely with an academic in history, Associate Professor Maartje Abbenhuis, and to be more extensively involved in research.
The project that I am working on this summer revolves around pictorial evidence relating to the two international peace conferences at The Hague in 1899 and 1907. These conferences were widely covered by the international press and, consequently, there is an abundance of cartoons, pictures, maps, paintings and other images to be uncovered.
My task this summer has been to unearth these pictorial materials and, after describing and analysing them, compile them into an electronic table or chart. Tedious you might think? Far from it. There is almost nothing quite so satisfying as uncovering some rare historical find or figuring out the meaning of some cryptic cartoon.
I soon became deeply immersed in searching the University Library’s extensive databases and reading newspapers, magazines and other historical resources from more than a century ago. Satirical magazines such as the English Punch, American Puck and German Kladderadatsch are all documented online and are a wealth of relevant and important pictorial information.
Cartoons, for example, can tell us a lot about politics and international affairs at the time, and also contemporary public perceptions of a particular event. They don’t just provide helpful insight, though, as the cartoons rely heavily on irony and satire as well and, as such, can sometimes be very amusing. From the complacency of the American cartoons, to the British depictions of the puffed-up German Kaiser, I have had a few good laughs.
There have been disappointing and fruitless days — I spent half a morning recently searching online for a particular issue of a German magazine before finding that it wasn’t actually published that week due to a strike — but overall my Summer Research Scholarship has been a wonderful experience and I have had a lot of fun working on it.
Being a summer scholar has given me the opportunity to engage in historical research for the first time and provided me with organisational, analytical and critical thinking skills that will be invaluable for future study and entry into the workforce, and not just as a history teacher.
Harry is currently completing his final year of a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in History and Media, Film and Television.
Find out more about Summer Research Scholarships.
