Dr Jessica Hammett
BA, MA, PHD
Current positions
ESRC New Investigator
Department of History (Historical Studies)
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I am a social and cultural historian of modern Britain, and my research is concerned with communities and how they understand themselves. My current project, supported by an ESRC New Investigator award, uses co-production methods to conduct research with residents of the Seacroft suburban social housing estate in Leeds. We are analysing how attitudes towards mental health and expertise have shifted in post-war Britain, and investigating the changing role of friendship and local support networks in wellbeing. A previous local history project that I led captured the experience of moving to the Bettws suburban social housing estate in Newport, South Wales. We produced a touring exhibition, and stories and photographs gathered during the project are featured on our website: Moving to Bettws: Starting a New Life on a 1960s Estate.
I am also leading a creative research project on menopause experience, with artist Lisa Nash. The MenoMakers craft and discussion group aims to initiate and normalise menopause conversations, combat stigma and improve wellbeing, and we have explored the therapeutic potential of creativity. This work is documented on the MenoMakers project website and a blog post for the Brigstow Institute.
My previous public history work has included collaborating with archives and museums, community groups, creative practitioners, and the voluntary sector. This included curating an exhibition on Remembrance at Abbey House Museum, Leeds (2018-19), and collaborating with The Grief Series, a sequence of projects by Leeds-based artist Ellie Harrison. I reflected on the latter with Ellie and historian Laura King in an article, Art, Collaboration and Multi-Sensory Approaches in Public Microhistory: Journey with Absent Friends (2019).
I am committed to improving wellbeing for researchers and participants, and have collaborated with the School of Applied Mental Health to develop interventions in this field. Our Researcher Wellbeing: Guidelines for History Researchers were produced after a series of workshops with history ECRs, and these are accompanied by two online articles for History Workshop Online: Researcher Wellbeing and What We Can Learn from Mental Health Professionals; and Emotions, Vulnerabilities and Care in Sensitive Research. Following this work, I led a project which tested out peer-support as a first step in addressing researcher wellbeing. We wrote up our findings in a policy briefing with PolicyBristol, ‘Targeted support is needed to protect the wellbeing of researchers working with emotionally challenging material’, and a blog post discusses participant feedback in more depth. We are now completing generalised ground rules and therapeutic safeguards for discussing emotionally challenging material, for use in research, teaching and public engagement.
My previous research examined community and citizenship in Second World War Britain. My book, Creating the People’s War: Civil Defence Communities in Second World War Britain (MUP, 2022), explores how local communities of civil defence personnel co-developed narratives about the value of their work which challenged hierarchies of war service, and created national identity from the bottom up. I have recently extended this work with historian Henry Irving. Our article, ‘Renegotiating Citizenship through the Lens of the “People’s War” in Second World War Britain’, suggests new ways to think through the relationship between citizens and the state and vernacular understandings of citizenship, in wartime and beyond.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
The MenoMakers' Handling Box
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Principal Investigator
Description
Our innovative activities and research methods aim to display hidden voices and help women to develop their own voice in this life stage. From our previous research we know there…Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
17/12/2021 to 31/07/2022
Living well through the menopause
Principal Investigator
Description
How have women found information and advice about the menopause? Is it understood and discussed differently within different families or social and cultural groups? How can creative activities and storytelling…Managing organisational unit
Department of History (Historical Studies)Dates
01/04/2021 to 31/07/2021
8009 ESRC ES/V001329/1 - Dr Jessica Hammett
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of History (Historical Studies)Dates
05/10/2020 to 12/11/2023
Wellbeing, Support Networks and Expertise on the Seacroft Council Estate, Leeds, 1950s-90s
Principal Investigator
Description
The second half of the twentieth century witnessed a transformation in the homes, health and wellbeing of British working-class communities. The establishment of the Welfare State and the NHS led…Managing organisational unit
Department of History (Historical Studies)Dates
05/10/2020 to 04/10/2022
Publications
Selected publications
01/08/2022Creating the people’s war: Civil defence communities in Second World War Britain
Creating the people’s war: Civil defence communities in Second World War Britain
Art, Collaboration and Multi-Sensory Approaches in Public Microhistory: Journey with Absent Friends
History Workshop Journal
‘The Invisible Chain by Which All Are Bound to Each Other’: Civil Defence Magazines and the Development of Community During the Second World War
Journal of War and Culture Studies
Recent publications
01/01/2024Introduction to the novel
Army Without Banners
Renegotiating Citizenship through the Lens of the ‘People’s War’ in Second World War Britain
English Historical Review
Creating the people’s war: Civil defence communities in Second World War Britain
Creating the people’s war: Civil defence communities in Second World War Britain
Targeted support is needed to protect the wellbeing of researchers working with emotionally challenging material
Targeted support is needed to protect the wellbeing of researchers working with emotionally challenging material
Researcher Wellbeing: Guidelines for History Researchers
Researcher Wellbeing: Guidelines for History Researchers