We host one of the largest economic and social history research groupings in the UK. Staff research interests are wide-ranging, including the study of economic development, financial history, energy policy, globalisation, slavery, urban history, consumption, material culture, museums and collecting, leisure, religious belief, popular culture, medicine and disease, gender, sexuality and the family.

The diversity of our research means we can support students’ economic and social history study in a vast range of time periods and geographical regions and from the early modern period to the present day.

Particular areas of expertise available for research are: culture and society in early modern Britain; slavery in the Atlantic world: 1650–1834; the material culture of gender in 18th-century Britain; urban society and civil society in historical context; clothing cultures in comparative historical contexts; cinema and society in modern Britain; gender, crime and deviancy: Britain 1860–1960; energy policy in Britain since 1920; the economic history of China in the 20th century.

The University’s economic and social historians host three research groups: material and visual cultures of the past; enlightenment and popular culture; and economic and social history.

Our PhD students develop a highly valued set of research and professional skills which enable them to go on to a wide variety of careers.

Many of our PhD students wish to pursue an academic career, and we have an excellent record of helping our students obtain research and teaching posts in universities in the UK and overseas.

PhD students also develop a portfolio of skills which are highly desirable across a wide range of sectors, from museums and heritage to the civil service, banking and the law.