News and events

2022/23 events

Conference to mark 50 years of the Urban History Journal

Dates: 11 - 13 July 2023
Venue: College Court, University of Leicester, UK
Learn more about the event

The Centre for Urban History and the Heritage Hub Public Lecture

Professor Rebecca Madgin (University of Glasgow) will be speaking on 'Emotional Cities: A Place for Felt Experiences within Urban History?'  

Date: 9 May 2023, 5.00pm
Venue: Attenborough Film Theatre

Please email Professor Roey Sweet for more information.

Centre for Urban History Seminars

Each year we host a series of free seminars and lectures which is open to graduates, students, staff and members of the public. For more information about events, contact Dr Prashant Kidambi. 

Spring 2023

All seminars in Room 111, Attenborough Seminar Block and online: Fridays at 3pm 
Seminar Co-ordinator: Richard Ansell.  Please email for links for online participation.

Embracing Fear: A Pathway for Historic Urban Analysis

Speaker: Sarah Collins (Newcastle University)
Date: 13 January 2023

Cemeteries as Urban Spaces in Late Medieval Cairo and Paris Compared

Speaker: Caitlin John (UCL)
Date: 27 January 2023

Marginality, Trans-imperial Mobility, and Respectability: The Deportation Case of an Anglo-Chinese ‘Brothel-keeper’ in London, 1937

Speaker: Vivian Kong (University of Bristol)
Date: 24 February 2023

The Role of the Italianate in London Town Planning (c.1820-1860)

Speaker: David McKinstry (Imperial College London/Camden Council)
Date: 10 March 2023

The Battle to Build the Great West Road (1901-1914)

Speaker: Tracey Logan (University of Leicester)
Date: 24 March 2023

Soldier Sojourners and Cityscapes: Anzac Impressions of the Port Cities of Durban, Cape Town and Freetown During the First World War and the Significance of the Built Environment

Speaker: Sarah-Jane Walton (University of Leicester)
Date: 12 May 2023

Selling Education in England, c. 1650-1715

Speaker: John Gallagher (University of Leeds)
Date: 26 May 2023

Autumn/Winter 2022

All seminars in Belvoir Park Annexe, 2nd Floor, Charles Wilson Building, University of Leicester, Fridays at 3.00pm

Please email ra437@le.ac.uk for a link for online participation.

The Media, Affect, and Community in a Decade of Disasters: The 1985 Bradford City Stadium Fire

Speaker: Aaron Andrews (University of Leicester)
Date: 30 September 2022

The West End of London Between the Wars

Speaker: Rohan McWilliam (Anglia Ruskin University)
Date: 14 October 2022

Writing 1960s/70s London

Speaker: John Davis (Queen’s College, Oxford)
Date: 28 October 2022

Nineteenth-Century Usk: A Tale of Small-Town Survival?

Speaker: Elizabeth Jones (Cardiff University)
Date: 11 November 2022

Dynamic Characteristics of Networks Among Leading Citizens: Chester, c.1750-1840

Speaker: Raku Nagamine (University of Leicester)
Date: 11 November 2022

Connected Colonies in Wartime South China: Relief, Resistance, and Collaboration in Hong Kong, Guangzhouwan, and Macau, 1937-1945

Speaker: Helena F. S. Lopes (University of Bristol)
Date: 2 December 2022

Religion and the Urban Landscape in Northern England, c.1740-c.1830

Speaker: Hannah Barker (University of Manchester)
Date: 9 December 2022

Seminar Co-ordinator: Richard Ansell (ra437@le.ac.uk) 

2021/22 events

Liverpool and the Making of Creative Capitalism in Late Twentieth-Century Britain

Speaker: Sam Wetherell, (University of York)
Date: 8 October 2021
Venue: Online event

From Army Bazaar to Civilian City: The Development of Cantonment Urbanism in 19th-Century India

Speaker: Christopher Cowell, (Trinity College, Dublin)
Date: 22 October 2021
Venue: Online event

'A caustic but kindly wit': humour, sociability and practical joking in Victorian bohemia

Speaker: Rory Booth (University of Leicester)
Date: 5 November 2021
Venue: Online event

Objecting to urban redevelopment in the Roman world

Speaker: Chris Siwicki (University of Exeter)
Date: 19 November 2021
Venue: Online event

Housing Social Democrats: Family and State in Council Housing, 1944-1974

Speaker: Claire Wrigley (University of California, Berkley)
Date: 3 December 2021
Venue: Online event