Centre for Regional and Local History

Description

The Centre for Regional and Local History at the University of Leicester is a well-respected institution dedicated to the study of regional and local history throughout England and Wales. This centre is part of the School of History, Politics and International Relations. Originally known as the Centre for English Local History and founded in 1948, it helped establish local history as an academic discipline in the UK. In 2022, it was renamed the Centre for Regional and Local History to reflect its strategic purpose of teaching and researching history at the highest academic level through the lens of local studies. The Centre for Regional and Local History has a remarkable local history collection, and it hosts a regular seminar series on the subject, making it a valued resource for both the University and the wider community. The Centre was relocated from Marc Fitch House at 3-5 Salisbury Road to a new space on the University's main campus in 2021. It is now located in the Attenborough Tower, which includes research spaces with two reference libraries and flexible research and seminar spaces.

The Centre maintains a broad chronological coverage ranging from early medieval to modern times and is committed to landscape and environmental history, geography, archaeology, and social, cultural, and gender history. It applies the comparative method to test hypotheses and interpretations and often uses other disciplines such as anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art history, folklore, geography, and literary studies. The Centre's research themes include social, economic, political, religious, cultural, and landscape history.

The Centre offers MA degrees, which are taught weekly over a year (or two years for part-timers) and can lead to MPhil or PhD degrees. At any one time, at least 20 research students are preparing theses. The Centre organizes a fortnightly seminar series through both academic semesters, as well as occasional symposia and conferences. It is supported by the alumni organization, The Friends of the Centre for English Local History. The Centre for Regional and Local History is committed to developing more diverse approaches to regional and local history by supporting research into Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic local histories, as well as histories of rural racism and exclusion. The Centre encourages collaboration with colleagues across the University whose research interests intersect with its own.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

1948

Contact details

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Categorisation

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University affiliation(s)

University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester
LE1 7RH