History Alumni
Our graduates
Our graduates are highly sought after by employers in an extraordinary range of sectors, and not just for their skills in problem-solving and analysis. They are also sought after for the intellectual rigour they bring to decision-making, strategy and project management. Many of our graduates also go on to pursue postgraduate degrees, including our own specialised MA programmes.
We could not be prouder of the successful careers our graduates have developed. Below, we are pleased to introduce you to some of our outstanding recent alumni.
Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere, MA Politics Student, Lancaster University
I graduated in the summer of 2023 with a First Class degree in History and Politics. The opportunity to explore the developments of the Global South and racial inequalities across the globe has defined many aspects of my past and present steps as a student. Above all, my degree taught me the 'personal is political'. Critical engagement with the communities I find myself in can produce real change — for myself and others. During my undergraduate degree, I was a member of the 'Why Is My Curriculum White?' campaign and the Race Equality Charter Committee at the University. Action and learning have always gone hand in hand for me and the self-growth that I have observed led me to stay and study a Master’s degree in Politics. I relish research about decolonisation and embrace sharing lessons I have learned. The MA programme allows me to specialise further in the field of Black British studies I first examined in my undergraduate dissertation. Contemporary significance of themes from that piece of work have paved the way to delivery of speeches, Widening Participation Projects and a Summer Internship over the last six months. The future is looking bright.
Molly Anderson, Writer and Social Media Manager, Promenades Travel
I graduated from Lancaster with a First-Class BA Honours degree in History in 2022. I am now a writer and social media manager for Promenades Travel, a history holiday travel company, which enables me to use the skills I developed at university, writing critical pieces for the blog, and entertaining pieces for social media. I am also a staff writer for The Historians Magazine, which encourages me to continue researching historical topics that interest me. In February, I curated a local history exhibition which was very well-received by the community. I’m also doing other part-time work before starting a Master's degree in Heritage Management at Queen Mary University of London in September. I then hope to start working in museums and historic properties.
Fabiha Askari, MA History Student, University College London
I graduated in the Summer of 2022 with a First-Class History and Politics degree! During my time at university, I was an Academic Representative for the Politics, Philosophy and Religion (PPR) department and the Co-Head of the ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ campaign. As a Lancastrian – having lived here for over 10 years – I have also been actively involved in my local community through being a founding member of the Lancaster Black History group and a City Councillor for the University and Scotforth Rural ward. Strengthening the connections between the city and our campus is something on which I continued to work as part of my current role as a Research, Engagement and EDI Assistant (Graduate Trainee) at the Lancaster University Library. Since then, I have started completing an MA in History at UCL, where I have been awarded an Alan Stanley Baxendale Charitable Trust scholarship.
Elisha Foster, Curatorial Coordinator, National Football Museum
I completed my BA in History in 2020 and my MA in History in 2021. I chose to stay at Lancaster for my MA because of the bespoke nature of the course. The ability to tailor my course to focus on heritage and early modern elements was particularly appealing. Studying at Lancaster afforded me a number of opportunities that have been invaluable to me in pursuing a career in museums. I now work at The National Football Museum within the Collections team as a Curatorial Coordinator. My role is split between the museum in Manchester and its archive in Preston, and it’s great to be able to use skills and experience from both of my degrees every day. My role is a varied one, ranging from dealing with loans to and from other institutions, new acquisitions, and supporting exhibitions, to general collections management duties like environmental monitoring and object movement control. I also get to work with lots of volunteers and placement students, as well as researchers who use our archive on a weekly basis. A personal highlight so far has been going out to the FIFA museum in Switzerland to courier a pair of football boots for an exhibition last summer. Studying at Lancaster really developed my intellectual curiosity, which is a must have when working with collections.
Travis D Frain OBE BCA, Lecturer in Policing, Advisor & Former CTYAG National Chair, Counter Terrorism Policing HQ
I completed my undergraduate degree in 2019 and, unsure of where I wanted to go with my career, I enrolled with Lancaster on the MA International and Military History, which I completed in 2020. I knew I wanted to work in counterterrorism but was unaware of how best to apply the knowledge and skills I'd gained from studying History at BA Level. This MA programme allowed me to flesh out my interest for the area and study in far more detail the subjects that interested me, and I was able to combine my fledgling experience on contemporary national security matters, with a historical bank of knowledge that has assisted me in my day-to-day work life ever since! I am very grateful to Lancaster for the range of teaching that I was provided with on this course, and I would absolutely recommend this MA to anyone seeking to explore conflict and warfare throughout the past few thousand years of human history.
Jessica Naisbett, HEO Caseworker for the DBS
I completed my BA in History and Politics and graduated with first-class honours in July 2023. I loved my time at Lancaster and enjoyed choosing from a broad range of modules. After graduating, I partook in a summer internship organised by Lancaster University where I worked with Lakeland Arts to research cultural explorations of climate change. I gained significant experience by creating three reports which analysed the relationship between the public perception of environmental issues and how this is influenced by exhibitions at museums. After completing the internship, I set off on a six-month backpacking trip around Australia, New Zealand and South-east Asia, which was a hugely valuable experience for me. On this trip, I was lucky enough to visit many historical sites which I learnt about during my degree. Now that I have returned home, I have started a career in the Civil Service. My role as a HEO Caseworker for the Disclosure and Barring Service enables me to use many of the investigative and analytical skills that I developed throughout my degree.
Natasha Robinson, History BA Hons, 2021
I completed a BA in History and graduated with a First in 2021. After graduation, I started a small online tutoring business, catering for ages 8–18, teaching English, Maths, History, Geography and EPQ. While growing the client base for my small business, I worked freelance as a Life Skills Mentor for young adults at risk through the Barclays Life Skills programme. As a Mentor, I created and delivered class sessions focused on confidence building, effective communication, CV writing and interview skills. I am currently transitioning away from the education sector as I look forward to starting a graduate scheme in February 2024 at PA Consulting. During this transition period, I am pursuing my passion for dog training and hiking. My dissertation at Lancaster studied cartographic representations of Cumbria and I have since returned north to hike 230 miles along Wainwright's Coast to Coast with my border collie Merry.
Estella Shaw, Communications and Visitor Engagement Assistant, The Foundling Museum
I completed my History BA (with First Class honours) in 2020 and my History MA (Heritage Pathway) in 2021. I loved studying at Lancaster, and my MA year was my favourite by far! Leaving university with a qualification associated with heritage really helped me get my foot in the door when I started to search for jobs in the extremely competitive museum sector. After I graduated, I managed to find a part time Visitor Engagement position at The Foundling Museum, in London, in which my main focus was accessibility and inclusion. After that, I was offered a full-time position that combined Visitor Engagement with Museum Communications. I’m putting the writing and research skills I learned in my MA to use daily, uncovering historical content for social media and communicating with the public and press to promote the museum’s work.
Lydia Thompson, Quality Assurance Tester, Sports Interactive
I earned a First-Class BA Honours degree in History in 2022. During my studies I combined my passions for history and gaming to develop a game that explored the history of the plague in early modern Italy. Since completing my degree, and writing my dissertation on the 16th/17th-century priest Matteo Ricci’s translations and interpretations of Confucius, I have started a career in the gaming industry as a Quality Assurance Tester at Sports Interactive, the world’s leading developer of football management simulations. The research skills and perspective gained from my degree have allowed me to passionately invest myself into my work across multiple platforms, and I often find my history knowledge comes in handy when investigating and explaining the many challenges in the world of sport today!
Henry Whitington, Archive Assistant, Army Flying Museum
I completed my History BA in 2020 and my International and Military History MA in 2021. I chose to study this programme for a number of reasons. Firstly, I studied History at an undergraduate level at Lancaster and found the department to be fantastic. The staff are all friendly and engaging and the topics taught at undergraduate level were fascinating. I therefore wanted to continue my studies in a department which I knew cared about my education and wanted me to succeed. Secondly, I knew I wanted to start a career in the heritage sector and the International and Military History MA allowed me to take modules which were focused on heritage.
Andrew Williams, MPhil History Student, UWI Mona, Jamaica
In 2021, I graduated from Lancaster University with a BA (Hons) in History and Politics. During my final-year, I found my passion lay in research after participating in Lancaster Black History Group's 'Slavery Family Trees' project as a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences intern. Subsequently, I took up a one-year position as a Collections Assistant at Victoria Gallery & Museum, part of the University of Liverpool. In this role, I researched the history and provenance of the University's diverse collections, encompassing art, heritage, archaeology and the library. In 2022, I applied for and was awarded a Study Abroad Studentship from the Leverhulme Trust, which has funded an MPhil in History at the University of the West Indies, Mona, located in Jamaica. My thesis research focuses on the economic history of Jamaica in the eighteenth century.
