Dr Pippa Catterall is a Professor of History and Policy at Westminster and teaches on the courses History and Politics BA Honours, English Literature and History BA Honours, History BA Honours and History with Foundation BA Honours, all of which are available in this year’s Clearing.
Growing up, Professor Catterall wanted to find out why people made certain decisions, what consequences came with them and how people could make better decisions to drive the widest possible interests in the future. To investigate this, she looked to history and started exploring how the past shapes current future policymaking. With this she went on to do a PhD and worked for a think tank called the Institute of Contemporary British History, first as a researcher fellow and then as its director.
Since starting at Westminster in 2012, she has thrived in the University’s community atmosphere and has loved how widely the subject stretches and the opportunities available for its students. One of the best things she has done in the past year is helping get students involved in events, from open air exhibitions at Kings Cross, to a short film festival in a hospital. She has published extensively on religious, political, constitutional, diplomatic and social history, with her work currently focusing on safety and inclusion in the public space.
Professor Catterall said: “All human life is in history. Yet some universities have narrow research specialisms. Westminster has a long tradition of engaging with the community and operating as a community which instead fosters broad cross-cutting research of the kind that interests me. At my previous university I hardly knew anyone in my department. At Westminster I know people in every discipline whose insights enrich my own research and teaching. What I like most about teaching history is its breadth and the way in which it touches on so many other subjects. I’ve published in areas ranging from medical history to architectural humanities and it’s good to bring that range of insights into teaching.”
Inclusivity is at the heart of much of Professor Catterall’s work and she serves on the University’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is co-chair of the staff Q+ network. Outside of Westminster she chairs the George Lansbury Memorial Trust and AIDS Memory UK. She has also organised events for LGBT History Month and Pride, which is often hosted at the University, and uses her research to find ways to create public spaces that will help marginalised groups.
She said: “Organising events for LGBT History Month and Pride has been an important part of my role in recent years and ties in with my activities in the local community as Co-chair of Westminster LGBT Forum. It has been a great pleasure involving students in these events. The University is very supportive of the importance of inclusivity and the need to approach this intersectionally. This comes through in our research and teaching on LGBTQ+ issues and in the Black History Year events run at Westminster. My own current research looks at the history and practice of designing public spaces and how this can be improved for the benefit of all marginalised groups. This kind of research has wide application and seeks to address the key sustainability challenges targeted by the University. I’m working with global infrastructure companies like Arup and academic colleagues internationally to explore how we can create safer, more welcoming spaces for the inclusion, health and wellbeing of all.”
History and Politics BA Honours, English Literature and History BA Honours and History BA Honours are all three-year courses with an option to spend a year in industry or study abroad at one of Westminster’s partner institutions. For those not feeling prepared for advanced study, the University also offers a foundation year for History BA Honours, to help students progress onto a full Honours degree at Westminster.
Dr Catterall said: “Our strength in history at Westminster is our focus on using the past to understand the present and the world our students will graduate into. Our core courses trace the emergence of the modern world right up to the present. Our options explore key contemporary concerns from environmental history to the origins of current conflicts. And our modules are taught by people passionate about their subjects and about helping their students to fulfil their potential.”
Dr Catterall teaches various undergraduate modules, principally those on Protests and Transforming British Politics. She also teaches on the Museums, Galleries and Contemporary Culture MA course and has extensive experience of PhD supervision, ranging from the US Civil War to the history of women’s cricket.
Explore all Westminster courses in Clearing.
