Dr Hannah Ewence
Head of Division
Biography
Hannah Ewence (PhD, FRHistS, SFHEA) is Head of Humanities, Cultures and Environment at the University of Chester; leading the subject provision for Geography and Environment, History and Archaeology, and Theology and Religious Studies. She is an experienced academic leader, with a proven track record in student recruitment and retention, inclusive curriculum design, learning and teaching enhancement, and a commitment to staff mentoring, student support, and research excellence. Hannah's core training is as a Modern Historian, working within the parallel fields of Jewish Studies, and Minority Studies. She has published extensively on nineteenth and twentieth century British-Jewish History, modern histories of migration within and through the Anglophone world, and the histories and legacies of British colonialism. Hannah is Honorary Fellow at the Parkes Institute for Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, at the University of Southampton. She sits on the Advisory Board for the Jewish Historical Society of England, and is a Editorial Board member for Jewish Historical Studies journal. She is the current membership secretary for the British and Irish Aossication for Jewish Studies. Hannah is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Teaching and Supervision
Hannah remains an active lecturer within the History programme team, delivering modules on Britain and the end of Empire, and contributing to a range of team-taught modules. Hannah is able to offer postgraduate supervision in most areas of late nineteenth and twentieth century social and cultural British history, but especially topics which focus on immigration, empire and colonialism, and minority studies. Until recently, Hannah held two consecutive secondments in learning and teaching leadership which helped to nurture and support teaching excellence amongst colleagues. This work included the development of a faculty-wide learning and teaching strategy, and leadership of a pilot project into inclusive curriculum design. Hannah is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Research and Knowledge Exchange
Hannah's research interests lie broadly within minority studies, and the modern histories of migration within and to the western world. Hannah has written and published most extensively on British-Jewish history from the late nineteenth century through to the twenty first century, and on responses to immigrants and refugees arriving in Britain from elsewhere. Her first monograph examined cultural and socio-political representations of Eastern European Jews travelling to and arriving in Britain, arguing that anxiety about migrant Jews expressed itself differently across the different sites associated with migration, such as border zones, ports and points of arrival. More recent work has examined processes of suburbanisation for Jews in Britain, viewed through the prism of race discourse, spatiality and territorialisation. Hannah has also conducted research into the reception of other immigrant groups in Britain, and was recently the recipient of grants from both the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund to research the presence of and response to Belgian refugees and combatants in Cheshire between 1914 – 1919. Hannah was also the lead for a collaborative cross-departmental outreach project ‘A Global History in One City’ which looked to showcase the truly global significance of Chester’s long and rich past. This project comprises a documentary film series (featuring colleagues from across the department), blog posts and a website, and resources for schools. It has been featured on BBC Radio, in the national press and as part of the Chester Heritage Festival. Hannah is currently co-leading a community partnership project with Chester Cathedral which seeks to support research into the sensitive, colonial-era heritage of the site and its collections. Hannah has a particular interest in processes of decolonisation within heritage sites and spaces, and within education and academia more braodly. In a project which co-joins Hannah's dual interests in Jewish Studies and British colonialism, Hannah is also developing research which explores the points of intersection between Jewish lived experience, Jewish Studies as a discipline, and debates surrounding the 'decolonial agenda'.