Dr Rebecca Andrew
Senior Lecturer in History
Biography
I am a social and cultural historian of modern Britain, with a particular interest in sense of place, landscape, youth culture, and leisure identities.
Teaching and Supervision
I lead the following modules: - Flappers to Rappers: Youth and Popular Culture in Modern Britain (Level 4) - Beauty and the Blitz: The Battle for the English Countryside 1800-2000 (Level 6) - Historical Sources: English Landscape, Culture and Identity from 1800 (Level 6) - Skill Up: Preparing for Academic and Graduate Success I contribute to the following modules: - Turning Points in History: Europe and the Wider World, 1000-2000 (Level 4) - History Dissertation (Level 6) - Landscapes of Life, Death and the Spaces Between (Level 7) - Research Dissertation (Level 7) - Research Methods and Skills in History (Level 7) - Approaches to Historiography (Level 7)
Research and Knowledge Exchange
My research is interdisciplinary, focussing on how landscape can shape the construction of identity, sense of place, and belonging. My doctoral thesis explored how Lake District communities drew upon the region’s landscape to create a distinctive sense of place and identity, between the 1930s and 1950s. It also examined how young people’s identities and sense of connection to their local communities were shaped through leisure culture. More recently, my research has moved on to examine urban landscapes, including 19th century industrial utopias. I am currently researching the famous Browns of Chester department store, and its relationship to the city’s place identity. Since joining the University in 2015, I have led a number of public engagement events and projects, including: - ‘Sensing the past’, part of Being Human Festival 2017. - ‘The Lost Buildings of Port Sunlight’, with Port Sunlight Village Trust. - ‘Hidden Histories at Chester’, part of the Institute of Historical Research’s centenary celebration programme. - ‘More than a shop: Remembering Browns of Chester’, with Cheshire Record Office and Grosvenor Museum. - ‘More than a shop: How the Browns family shaped modern Chester’, part of Being Human Festival 2022 I am also a member of the Chester Heritage Festival steering group. Areas of MRes and Mphil/PhD Supervision: - Modern British History - History of Education - Sports history and leisure history - History, space and place - Rural history and the history of the modern countryside - Ideas/representations of national and regional identity - Travel and tourism history - Relationship between landscape, culture and identity - History of planning and landscape design