Dr Olly Ayers joins the History Faculty at New College of the Humanities
London, UK (PRWEB UK) 4 July 2014 -- Dr Ayers will teach one-to-one and group tutorials, as well as delivering lectures and leading seminars in small groups on two modules: ‘Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement’, and ‘Twentieth-Century World History’.
He will work closely with other members of the department including Convenor for History, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb; Dr Hannah Dawson; Dr Lars Kjaer; Dr Edmund Neill and Dr Joanne Paul.
Dr Ayers gained a First Class Honours degree in History from the University of Manchester in 2008 and completed his PhD at the University of Kent in 2013. He has held a lectureship in American History at the University of Kent and an Early Career Visiting Scholarship at Northumbria University.
Dr Ayers is a member of Historians of Twentieth Century USA (HOTCUS) and the British Association for American Studies (BAAS). His research interests span the connected histories of black civil rights, economic inequality and urban spaces. He has published on the history of black protest in New York City and is writing a monograph on African American activism during the New Deal.
Dr Ayers’ doctoral work challenged the positive verdict assigned to the northern, New Deal era of civil rights struggle by historians of the ‘long’ civil rights movement. Drawing upon the archives of black protest groups, oral histories, and the records of unions and branches of government, Dr Ayers’ work argued that a new and ultimately burdensome demand for coordinated activism was placed on civil rights groups. Rather than undergoing a neat ‘proletarian turn’ to the left during the 1930s as existing accounts emphasize, protest leaders often remained divided by personality and politics as they attempted to respond to the challenges of the Depression and war years. His future research will focus on Detroit, examining how narratives of progress and decline have shaped the city’s socio-economic, political and cultural history during the twentieth century.
Dr Suzannah Lipscomb, Convenor for History and Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History commented: ‘We are tremendously excited that Dr Ayers is joining the History Faculty at NCH. His incisive intelligence, professionalism, enthusiasm for scholarship, and kindness of spirit mean that he will enrich the Faculty and student experience immeasurably.’
A C Grayling, Master of New College of the Humanities, said: “I am delighted to have Olly Ayers joining us at NCH. He will bring yet more strength and depth to our History provision, and will be a valuable addition to our academic community, which prizes both scholarship and the interdisciplinary across the range of Humanities studies.”
In addition to their 12-module single honours undergraduate degree from the University of London, all NCH students study a further eight modules. These comprise modules from another of the College’s degree subjects or Art History, Classical Studies, or Psychology as a contextual course, and core modules in Applied Ethics, Logic & Critical Thinking, and Science Literacy, plus the College’s three-year Professional Programme.
The College’s rolling applications process is independent of UCAS and applications can be made in addition to the five UCAS choices and can still be made for entry in 2014.
Visit http://www.NCHum.org for all enquiries and applications.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Desi Lyon
T: +44 (0)2072911385
E: desi(dot)lyon(at)NCHum(dot)org
Notes to editors:
About New College of the Humanities
New College of the Humanities (NCH) offers a new model of higher education for the humanities in the UK. NCH students enjoy one of the best staff-to-student ratios in UK higher education and benefit from a high number of quality contact hours including engaging and challenging one-to-one tutorials.
Our professors are international experts in their fields and our full- time academic staff members have been selected for their proven ability in teaching as well as for their research interests.
NCH welcomed its first intake of students in September 2012 and prepares students for undergraduate degrees in: Economics BSc; English BA; History BA; Law LLB, Philosophy BA and Politics & International Relations BSc.
In addition to their 12-module single honours undergraduate degree from the University of London, all NCH students study a further eight modules. These comprise four modules from another degree subject or Art History, Classical Studies, or Psychology as a contextual course, and three core modules in Applied Ethics, Logic & Critical Thinking, and Science Literacy, plus the College’s three-year Professional Programme.
The College is centrally located in Bloomsbury, London’s university district and students, as associate members of the University of London, have access to many of the resources of the University of London: the exceptional library in Senate House, the University of London Union, sports facilities, and many other opportunities to enrich themselves through extra-curricular activity.
The College’s rolling applications process is independent of UCAS and applications can be made in addition to the five UCAS choices. Visit http://www.NCHum.org or call 020 7637 4550 for all enquiries and applications.
https://www.facebook.com/NewCollegeH.
Recent research
In March 2014 NCH commissioned YouthSight, an independent youth research agency, to conduct research into the academic experiences of NCH students. The survey was based on annual research YouthSight conduct for HEPI with c14000 students at public universities in the UK. Using the NCH results and data collected on behalf of HEPI, YouthSight were able to directly compare the academic experience of NCH students with students studying Humanities/Social Sciences at Russell Group universities in 2014. HEPI were informed that this research took place.
The statistics show (percentage in brackets reflects HEPI results for those studying humanities and social sciences at Russell Group universities):
General:
63 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities say that their university experience has exceeded their expectations. (2014: 28 per cent/ 2013: 32%)
Contact time:
New College of the Humanities students experience an average of 13.8 hours of contact time per week. (2014: 9.85/ 2013: 9.93)
Assignments and feedback:
Students at New College of the Humanities complete 13.7 assignments per term (6.44)
84 per cent of feedback at New College of the Humanities is given in person (2014: 36 per cent/ 2013: 40%)
91 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities claim it is easy to schedule time to discuss work, or discuss work on email, outside of scheduled work hours (2014: 69 per cent/ 2013: 76%)
88 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities state they have sufficient access to academic staff outside timetabled sessions in order to discuss aspects of their work (2014: 71 per cent/ 2013: 73%)
88 per cent of students at New College of the Humanities are satisfied with the amount of timetables sessions (2014: 61%/ 2013: 62%)
Desi Lyon, New College of the Humanities Ltd, +44 2072911385, [email protected]
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