Centre for Cultural History

We work at the forefront of diverse scholarly fields, both individually and with a variety of local, national and international partners – on research outputs, archival and oral history projects, and events.

History from below

To uncover the past, whether recent or distant in time, is to reframe the habits of thought that make and sustain contemporary life. Dr Alwyn Turner’s longstanding research on in twentieth century history excavates the messy political, cultural and social processes through which British national identity was made and remade in the Edwardian era, the post-war period, and beyond.

Reaching further back, Dr Nikki Clark’s research asks new questions about the Tudors – another powerful episode in national mythmaking – by turning attention away from the ‘household names’ of Henry VIII’s reign and focusing instead on the ladies-in-waiting who served them behind the scenes. Similarly, Dr Mark Bryant’s recent research has included a project exploring the neglected influence of the French King Louis XIV’s secret wife and confidant, Mme de Maintenon, and Dr Lorenza

Gianfrancesco’s groundbreaking research on early modern Naples places marginal communities at the heart of its analysis. By considering hitherto overlooked influences (and influencers) at moments of pivotal change, this work re-engages with enduring questions and assumptions in modern European history.

With Ukraine in the global spotlight following Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022, building and sharing an understanding of its history is more important than ever. Dr Daria Mattingly’s work on twentieth-century Ukraine, particularly the 1932-33 famine known as the Holodomor, traces the rank-and-file perpetrators of a tragedy that forms a crucial part of Ukraine’s collective memory and national identity. Mattingly is a contributor to the Ukrainian History Global Initiative, and the Advisory Board of the project ‘5am, 24.02.22’, which explores personal testimonies from the current war in Ukraine.

The lens of the local

The University of Chichester has a unique place in the history of West Sussex. One of our lecture rooms was used as the Operations Room of RAF Tangmere, acting as the nerve centre for squadrons of fighter planes involved in the D-Day landings of 1944.

The University was also an important context for local gender history in the 1870s, when Ms Louisa Hubbard, campaigning with the Suffragettes and supported by Florence Nightingale, successfully petitioned the institution (then known as Bishop Otter College) to become a training college specifically for women.

Professor Andrew Chandler’s longstanding research into modern church history includes a biographical dictionary (jointly edited) of women in British churches from 1890-1960, alongside a range of projects focussing on the importance of local church figures, such as Bishop George Bell, within the wider context of British religious history.

Likewise looking into the local past, Dr Danae Tankard’s scholarship reconsiders the history of everyday things in Sussex – especially clothing – and how they played into contemporary ideas about individuality, community and place. What we wear has always been a way of asking something of the world around us, and of placing ourselves, in often complex ways, within that world. Tankard’s current research considers the importance of factionalism and dissent in late seventeenth-century Chichester, specifically.

Reading visual culture

Professor Hugo Frey’s work on graphic novels, comics and film is known all over the world. In 2022 he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, where he researched French and Belgian 1940s and 1950s comics and their representations of post-war society. This is being followed by a planned exhibition of Visionary Comics at the Museum of Comic Art, Brussels, in 2025.

He is currently a co-recipient of a British Academy conference grant for research, soon to be published in the Proceedings of the British Academy, and will, with the help of a PhD researcher be partnering up with the Italian Cultural Centre in London to make a small exhibition of 1960s Italian comics and the British strips that were translated and published in Italy.

Our members publish regular monographs, journal articles, book chapters and other work with leading publishing houses.

The REF 2021 research assessment exercise saw 66% of our work rated as internationally excellent or world leading.

We also serve on a host of editorial boards and historical society committees with responsibility for outputs of various kinds, including the Institute of Historical Research, Manchester University Press, the Association for the Studies of Nationalities, the Heldt Book Price Committee, the Sussex Record Society, the British Agricultural Society, and the new Churches Forum for History.

Professor Hugo Frey is currently co-editing the groundbreaking Cambridge Studies in Graphic Narrative book series.

Other recent and ongoing book-length publications include Dr Alwyn Turner’s Little Englanders: Britain in the Edwardian Era (part of a multi-volume series on Britain in the twentieth century with Profile Books), Dr Nikki Clark’s The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women who Served the Six Wives (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), Dr Danae Tankard’s Factionalism & Dissent in a Late Seventeenth-Century City: Chichester, 1678–1685 (Routledge), Dr Gianfrancesco’s The Science of Naples: Making Knowledge in Italy’s Pre-eminent City, 1500–1800 (UCL Press, co-edited with Neil Tarrant), and Professor Andrew Chandler’s The Letters of George Bell and Alphons Koechlin, 1933–1958 and War, Peace and the British Free Churches 1900–1945 (both Bloomsbury, co-edited with Gerhard Ringshausen and David Ceri Jones, respectively).

Current peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters include studies on Stalinism and sexual violence during the Holdomor famine in Ukraine by Dr Daria Mattingly, and a special edition article on noblewomen, court service and crossing borders in sixteenth-century England, by Dr Nikki Clark.

You can find a full list of publications on our ChiPrints page

Fully half our research impact in History was judged to be of the highest 4* (world-leading) quality in the most recent REF (2021) assessment. We are eager to continue to work with external organisations and individuals to make a difference through our research.

Our members regularly feature in prestigious media outlets, in writing, interviews, and public engagement events. Current and recent engagements include:

Reframing the Political Present

With the 2024 publication of his most recent monograph Little Englanders, Alwyn Turner is busy with interviews and podcasts, including for HistoryExtra, Engelsberg Ideas, The Books Podcast and Times Radio, alongside guest talks at various historical societies.

Amplifying Ukrainian History

Dr Daria Mattingly’s recent public engagements have included appearing on the Daily Telegraph podcast Ukraine: The Latest, in December 2023, and speaking at a press conference on the launch of the Ukrainian History Global Initiative (UHGE) at the British Museum in November 2023.

History around Henry

Dr Nikki Clark’s many ongoing speaking commitments include talks at Southwark Cathedral, the British Library’s Histfest, Hillingdon Archaeology Festival, and Suzannah Lipscomb’s Not Just For Tudors podcast. Her work has also featured in the Six Wives exhibition catalogue at the National Portrait Gallery.

Comic art exhibitions

In partnership with Italian Cultural Institute London, Professor Hugo Frey is curating an exhibition of 1960s pop art-inspired comics (Chichester University Campus), and is co-organizing (with Professor Simon Grennan) a British Academy-funded conference entitled ‘The Business of Comics’ (May 2024). In 2022 he was a Visiting Professor at the University of Ghent, where he researched French and Belgian 1940s and 1950s comics and their representations of post-war society. This is being followed by a planned exhibition of Visionary Comics at the Museum of Comic Art, Brussels, in 2025.

Events and News

The Centre hosts a regular series of talks, including free public lectures at the University and in Chichester and the surrounding area.

We are also closely affiliated with Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day, which organises a diverse programme of events each year.

Externally, centre members are engaged in a wide range of events and promotional activities across 2024, including:

• Book launch event for Dr Alwyn Turner’s Little Englanders on 6 March (Bishop Otter Campus)
• Talks by Dr Nikki Clark on her latest book The Waiting Game on 2 May (Southwark Cathedral), 11 July (National Portrait Gallery) and 13 July (Hillingdon Archaeology Festival)
• A talk on ‘Clothing in Seventeenth-century Sussex’ by Dr Danae Tankard at a Tudor & Stuart Sussex day school (12 October 2024)
• Professor Hugo Frey was part of the panel on the Contours: The Cambridge Literary Studies Hour episode The Graphic Novel. You can watch the full episode below.