Stories

Advanced search

Modernising history

16 December 2009

Dr Tim Cole

Dr Tim Cole

Tim Cole is interested in how historical events affect mainstream culture and how an accepted idea can change over time because of a new discovery or a gradual cultural shift. He is keen to hold conversations in public spaces like schools and museums to see how his and others’ perspectives on modern history compare.

Tim is a Senior Lecturer in Social History, specialising in the Holocaust, specifically in Hungary, and often finds that history is interpreted in books and films from particular moral standpoints. In illustrating how people’s understanding of history changes, Tim presents plenty of primary sources such as letters and photographs, which often trigger memories or opinions during talks and presentations. He said: "By using these tools, people see that history is a dynamic, exciting discipline and that it always incorporates new ideas."

By using these tools, people see that history is a dynamic, exciting discipline and that it always incorporates new ideas.

Dr Tim Cole
He has collaborated on projects with the Imperial War Museum, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the University’s Widening Participation Office to investigate how moral messages can develop over time. People respond to Tim’s research in many ways, either adding personal accounts to the patchwork of history or seeing everyday things in a new light for the first time. Tim recalls: “During one summer school at the University, I showed a group of school students some different historical and contemporary maps. The position and size of countries were different on all of them, even the modern ones.  I strongly remember doing this because it triggered a lively response in a couple of students, who said that they had never thought of a map as an ideological instrument before. Those kinds of moments are great.” 

Preparing activities in partnership with groups of teachers has also given Tim a deeper understanding of national curriculum and what elements of his research are significant to classroom teaching. He takes the opportunity while talking to teachers to refresh both his outreach and undergraduate teaching style. By working with people from museums and schools over the years, Tim has seen a gradual shift in the way the Holocaust is represented, he added: “Maybe I’ll do some new research into how Holocaust teaching has evolved over the past 50 years…”

 

Please contact Tim Cole for further information.