Dr Sarah Hellawell

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Quality Support Officer

I am currently a Quality Support Officer in Academic Registry. I support colleagues in the Faculty of Education and Society with the quality management of their courses. I joined the University of Sunderland as Lecturer in Modern British History in September 2016. In my lecturing role, I was module leader for a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.

My research focuses on the history of activism, particularly British women’s participation in international associations during the twentieth century. I have authored book chapters in a range of edited collections and I have had articles published in BBC History magazine, Women’s History Review, Twentieth Century British History, and History: the journal of the Historical Association. I am currently working on my first monograph, which examines the formation and early years of the British Women's International League.

Teaching and supervision
Research
Publications
Areas of expertise

Teaching and supervision

As Lecturer in Modern British History, I was Module Leader for:

HIS116 'British History since 1750'
HIS212 'Britain's Age of Reform, 1750-1846'
HIS395 'A Brave New World: Interwar Britain'
HIS396 'Special Project: Activism, Gender and Social Change: Britain and Beyond, 1850s-1970s'

I also taught on 'Introduction to History', 'Special Project', 'History in Ancient and Contemporary Debates'. I supervised undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, including MA and MPhil student projects. I have examined two PhD projects.

Research interests for potential research students

I am interested in supervising projects that relate to the women's and gender history, and the histories of social movements, internationalism, activism, and other themes in British social history in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Research

Feminism, Pacifism and Internationalism: The British Women’s International League, 1915-1935

My PhD research sheds light on the British Women’s International League (WIL), an organisation that campaigned for peace, disarmament and international law, alongside goals for women’s rights. Having formed part of an international association – the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) – WIL offers a unique perspective on the women’s movement and the interplay between activism at local, national and international levels. My project engages with the broader historical themes of citizenship, class and social activism. It makes a distinct contribution to the historiography on the British women’s movement by considering the influence of internationalism on activism. I am currently revising my research for publication as a monograph.

British Ex-Service Students and the Rebuilding of Europe, 1919-1926

As Research Assistant, I conducted archival research in London and the North East on the history of student activism after the First World War. Funded by AHRC World War One Engagement Centre at the University of Hertfordshire and led by academics at Northumbria University and University College London, I also worked in collaboration with community partners – the National Union of Students and North East branch of the Workers Educational Association – to organise dissemination events in London and the North East. This project has led to a pop-up exhibition, public talks, a blog and a journal article.

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