IHR Summer School - Daily Schedule

10:00-10:30 | Summer School Registration

10:30-10:45 | Important Information

10:45-11:30 | Session 1 - How to be a Rebel

Professor Claire Langhamer (IHR)
London’s history is replete with moments of rebellion – many of which we will explore together this week. But before we start, we need to define our terms. What does it mean to be a rebel and what does rebellion really look like? How does being a rebel unfold within a life and what is the relationship between rebellion, radicalism and culture? Taking London’s recent past as our focus, we will apply a historical lens to the actions and ideas of people seen as rebels within their own time. These will include the Black activist, Claudia Jones (1915-1964); the gay rights campaigner, Peter Wildeblood (1923-1999); the musician David Bowie (1947-2016); the feminist historian Sally Alexander; and a number of lesser known ‘rebels’ from the period.

11:45-13:00 | Session 2 - Library induction workshop

13:00-14:00 | Lunch 

14:00-18:00 | Session 3 - Bloomsbury: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries Walking Tour 

Dr Adam Chapman & Dr Eve Hayes de Kalaf (IHR)
Discover rebel histories in the streets around Senate House, here in Bloomsbury. From groundbreaking figures in the arts to early feminists, social justice campaigners, abolitionists and Black radical thought, this short walking tour will uncover the stories hiding in plain sight.

OR 

IHR Library supported research 
These IHR Library sessions offer access to all our collections, with our expert librarians on hand for advice and guidance. 

Evening | London Pub Quiz  

Join us in the IHR Common Room for drinks (provided) and a fun, informal and friendly pub quiz, themed around London and ‘rebels’ – with some surprises… 

10:30-11:30 | Session 1 - London in 1381: some new perspectives 

Andrew Prescott & Dr Helen Killick(Opens in new window) (University of Oxford)
The traditional view of the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 is that bands of insurgents from Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and elsewhere marched on London, where they killed royal ministers and forced the King to grant letters releasing them from labour services. The People of 1381 project has developed a comprehensive database of legal records relating to the rising which enables us to trace the names of thousands of rebels. We will give an overview of the database and discuss how it challenges previous interpretations of the rising, showing for example how many people from London and the immediately surrounding area joined the rising. We will also provide a detailed case study of the destruction of the King’s Bench prison in Southwark and the killing of its keeper Richard Imworth, which demonstrates the complex social cross-currents of the rising.

11:45-13:00 | Session 2 - Layers of London workshop

Dr Justin Colson (IHR) 

13:00-14:00 | Lunch 

13:00-13:30  | Lunchtime talk: This Little Republick”: The debtor sanctuaries of London, 1676 to 1724 

John Levin (IHR)
From around 1676, until the abolition of Wapping Mint in 1724, there were areas of London apparently exempt from certain aspects of the law. The most famous of these was Whitefriars, nicknamed ‘Alsatia’, on the north bank of the Thames, abolished in 1697; the longest lasting the Mint in Southwark, that survived some fifty years. These places became sanctuaries for debtors threatened by their creditors with indefinite incarceration in unhealthy gaols. There they maintained a measure of self-governance, and collectively defended themselves from creditor and bailiff. And even when the Mint was finally ended, the debtors were granted an amnesty by the government that saw much of their debt written off.
 

14:00-18:00 | Session 3- TRIP: Goldsmith’s Company Archives 

Dr Justin Colson (IHR) 
On this special visit to the archives of one of London’s most prestigious livery companies (or guilds) we’ll explore their collections, including materials relating to rebellious apprentices and the company’s role in guarding against fakes, forgers and conmen…

OR 

IHR Library supported research 
These IHR Library sessions offer access to all our collections, with our expert librarians on hand for advice and guidance. 

10:30-11:30 | Session 1 - Rebel Burning: Anne Askew’s Poem from Newgate Prison

Professor Catherine Clarke (IHR)
On 16 July, 1546, Anne Askew was burned at the stake outside the church of Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, for her Protestant beliefs and rejection of the Catholic doctrine of the ‘Transubstantiation’. In this session, we’ll look at the rebel words of the poem she wrote before facing her execution.

11:45-13:00 | Session 2 - London’s Non-Conformist Built Environment

Dr Adam Chapman & Dr Ruth Slatter (IHR)
In this workshop you will be introduced to the history and historic built environment of Protestant non-conformity in London via the Victoria County History (VCH). Started in 1899, the VCH is a 125 year project to write the history of every place in England from the earliest records to the present day. When the project began it focused on the established histories of noble families and the Church of England. Today it is a national network of place-based history, researched and written with the people who live in England today. In the workshop you reflect on how the VCH’s approach to non-conformity has changed over time and explore the possibilities of using the VCH to engage in collaborative history making with contemporary non-conformist communities.

13:00-14:00 | Lunch 

14:00-18:00 | Session 3 - Senate House Tour 

Prof Philip Murphy (IHR)
This tour will explore the origins of the idea of creating a headquarters for the University of London in Bloomsbury and the connection between this and the establishment of the IHR itself in 1921. We will trace how Sir Charles Holden came to be commissioned as the architect of Senate House and how he went about designing the building. Barely had the University moved into its new home, when the outbreak of the Second World War led to the arrival of a new set of occupants – the staff of the Ministry of Information. The tour will explain the layout of the Ministry in Senate House and surrounding buildings, its role and the activities of some of the people it employed. Participants will then be guided through the building itself and will have the opportunity to examine some of the key features of Holden’s work and learn about the different uses to which its various halls and offices were put, both in War and in Peacetime. Finally, there will be a presentation showing how the spaces just visited were used by film and television directors as the locations for dramas supposedly set in New York, Moscow and even Gotham City. 

TRIP
Discover the stories of the University of London’s own magnificent Senate House – home of the IHR. From wartime Ministry of Information to present-day film set and more... A special access-all-areas tour. 

OR 

IHR Library supported research 

• These IHR Library sessions offer access to all our collections, with our expert librarians on hand for advice and guidance. 
• Consultation time with IHR academic tutors (compulsory meetings for those taking the credit-bearing module) 

Evening | Derek Keene London Lecture 2025

“I think punk is an overused word, as a matter of fact”: London, England, 1975–76

Professor Matt Worley(Opens in new window) (University of Reading)
This paper looks back to the formation of British punk, before the term transformed into cliché and became a touchstone for anything mildly rebellious or outré. Using rare and archive sources, it traces some of the influences – cultural and political – that coalesced to inform the shop SEX owned by Malcolm McLaren and Vivien Westwood, the band the Sex Pistols, and the milieu who gathered in-and-around both. The objective is to recover the initial provocations of what became British punk and to locate these within the context of London in the mid-1970s.

10:30-11:30 | Session 1 - Rebel Diplomats, Black Protest and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Dr Juanita Cox (IHR)
Sir Learie Constantine (1901-1971) and Rev Guy Hewitt (1967- ) served as High Commissioners to London, the former of Trinidad and Tobago between 1961-1964, and the latter of Barbados between 2014-2018. While Constantine was a leading advocate of the Bristol Bus Boycott, Hewitt played a key role in forcing the Windrush Scandal onto the political agenda.  In taking these two men as case studies, this talk will explore the links between Caribbean diplomacy, grassroots activism and the struggle for racial justice in Britain.  It will also explore how their connections to London helped to inform and shape their ‘guerilla diplomacy’.

11:45-13:00 | Session 2 - Teen Age Riot: Rebels in the Museum of Youth Culture Collection

Lisa Der Weduwe & Jamie Brett (Museum of Youth Culture)
Museum of Youth Culture(Opens in new window) is an emerging museum celebrating a century of teenage life in Britain. The collections showcase the scene, styles and social movements forged by youth, from the bomb-site Bicycle racers in post-war 1940s London to the Acid House ravers of 1980s Northern England.

In this session, we will discuss the impact and legacies of subcultural movements on British society through the museum’s collection and consider what makes teenage rebels such potent change makers. The second half of the session will take the form of a Show & Tell event. We invite members of the Summer School to bring along their own photographs, memorabilia and stories of being a teenager to share and build our own mini-collection of Teen Rebels.
 

13:00-14:00 | Lunch 

14:00-18:00 | Session 3 -TRIP: Bishopsgate Institute

Stefan Dickers(Opens in new window) (Bishopsgate Institute)
Home to collections recording everyday life, campaigns for social, political and cultural change, and LGBTQ+ histories, the Bishopsgate is always a treasure trove of fascinating materials. Under the guidance of Special Collections and Archives Manager Stef Dickers and colleagues, we’ll explore materials relating to protest and rebellion, as well as the extensive collection of political pamphlets.

OR 

IHR Library supported research 

These IHR Library sessions offer access to all our collections, with our expert librarians on hand for advice and guidance. 

10:30-11:30 | Session 1 - Soho's rebels, exiles and outcasts

Prof Philip Murphy (IHR)
From the time Huguenots fleeing France settled there in the 1680s, Soho has been a place of refuge for migrants, outcasts and rebels. Subsequent waves of migration, notably Italian political and economic refugees in the mid-nineteenth century, gave Soho a markedly cosmopolitan atmosphere, setting it apart from the rest of London. By the twentieth century, its bohemian reputation attracted rebels of all sorts, whose beliefs, lifestyles or sexuality marked them out as different. This talk will explore why Soho provided such a haven for them and will discuss the lives of some of those most closely associated with its distinctive subculture.

11:45-13:00 | Session 2 - Research Discovery Session 

This special session gives you an opportunity to share your own research – either a project you’ve developed across the Summer School week, or your wider personal or professional research interests. The session will take an informal ‘open mic’ format, with 5 minutes for each speaker. Come along and share your interests, discover others’ research, gain feedback, and make connections! 

Students taking the credit-bearing (assessed) module must give a presentation in this session on their proposed essay topic. 

13:00-14:00 | Lunch 

14:00-18:00 | Session 3 - Senate House Library Special Collections, Senate House Library

In this special workshop, in the Senate House Library Special Collections room, we’ll explore the Ron Heisler Collection(Opens in new window), with a focus on radical voices, grassroots activism, political pamphlets, papers and ephemera from the late eighteenth century to the twentieth century.

OR 

IHR Library supported research 

These IHR Library sessions offer access to all our collections, with our expert librarians on hand for advice and guidance.