Current and Future Events at the Centre for Historical Studies
We have a calendar of exciting and enlightening events planned at the Centre for Historical Studies.
Centre for Historical Studies events
See below for our latest events.
We welcome submissions from researchers at all career stages, from master’s students to research professors. We are also especially keen to receive presentation proposal from professionals such as teachers, healthcare workers and independent educators and writers.
If you have any questions or queries about potential submissions, please contact Rachel.Moss@northampton.ac.uk and Tim.Reinke-Williams@northampton.ac.uk
The Centre for Historical Studies at the University of Northampton welcomes submissions for our interdisciplinary and panhistorical conference Playing with History. This event brings together scholars, educators, and practitioners interested in examining how play—across its many forms—shapes, reflects, and reimagines the past. Play is often framed as leisure or diversion, yet it has long been central to cultural expression, technological innovation, learning, and socialization. From ancient board games to contemporary digital worlds, from childhood toys to serious games in education, play offers a rich archive for historical inquiry and creative engagement.
We welcome papers that address (but are not limited to) the following themes:
1. Histories of Games, Toys, and Play
- Archaeologies and material cultures of play
- Play and identity (gender, class, race, age)
- Collecting, preserving, and curating play artefacts
- Performance as play (acting, dressing up, theatre)
2. History and Gaming
- Historical representation in tabletop, board, and role-playing games
- Video games as sites of historical storytelling and memory
- Game mechanics as historiographical tools
- Histories of gaming technologies and industries
3. Pedagogy and Play
- Game-based learning in history education
- Role-playing and experiential learning in the classroom
- Designing educational games and playful curricula
- Critical perspectives on gamification
- Play as a method of engaging with difficult or contested pasts
We encourage contributions from a wide range of disciplines, including history, archaeology, anthropology, education, media studies, game studies, museum studies, theatre studies and more. If you have something to say about play, you are welcome!
We welcome 200-word abstracts for traditional 20-minute papers, but also welcome submissions for more creative formats, such as game demonstrations, poster presentations and workshops. We warmly welcome abstracts from practitioners outside higher education and postgraduate students.
Please email Rachel.Moss@northampton.ac.uk and Tim.Reinke-Williams@northampton.ac.uk your abstract and contact details by Monday 11 May.
To register, please contact Dr Siobhan Hyland at Siobhan.hyland@northampton.ac.uk.