Somerville alumni and friends were treated to talks on a dazzling array of topics at History Day 2026.
On Saturday 21st March, all History alumni were invited back to College to find out about Somerville’s current research, and celebrate the endowment of the Liz Cooke Fellowship in the subject.
The afternoon began with tea and coffee in the Brittain-Williams Room, followed by two research sessions, where Somerville students and academics delivered short talks on their work. The range of speakers definitively showcased the eclecticism and far-reaching curiosity of the historical community at Somerville.
Final-year undergraduates Lucy Pollock and Harry Stewart-Dilley (both 2023, History) delivered fascinating talks on their theses, Lucy sharing her work on same-sex attraction in Oxford’s women’s colleges, and Harry delivering a compelling investigation into squirrel massacres in California, Saskatchewan and Soviet Ukraine c.1916-1960. Our DPhil Selina Whiteman-Gardner (2018, History) added to this exciting mix by introducing us to pirates in the Late-Medieval Irish Sea. Whilst out title’s summary of ‘Pirates, squirrels and lesbians’ may sound irreverant, in reality, these talks demonstrated our students’ wide-ranging research interests and intellectual curiousity.
Somerville academics also offered a fantastic contribution to the day’s talks, with Helen Flatley, Jo Innes, Benjamin Thompson, Natalia Nowakowska and Faridah Zaman providing insights into their research on community in Medieval Toledo; modern ‘Democracy’; tensions in the Late-Medieval English Church; Renaissance Eastern Europeand Britons; Indians, and travel in the fin-de-siècle world, respectively.
Liz Cooke Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History, Benjamin Thompson, introduces the day, with Fellow Emerita Barbara Harvey and Liz Cooke, Secretary of the Somerville Association 1988-2023, on the screen next to him
Tutor Natalia Nowakowska presents 'Thinking with Tartars: Global History and Renaissance Eastern Europe'
Tutor Faridah Zaman presents 'Britons, Indians, and Travel in the Fin-de-Siècle World'![Undergraduate Harry Stewart-Dilley (2023, History) presents 'The Great Squirrel Massacre(s): Children, Pest Control and the Making of Civic Subjects [in California, Saskatchewan and Soviet Ukraine,] c.1916-1960'](https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-21-at-22.50.56.jpeg)
Undergraduate Harry Stewart-Dilley (2023, History) presents 'The Great Squirrel Massacre(s): Children, Pest Control and the Making of Civic Subjects [in California, Saskatchewan and Soviet Ukraine,] c.1916-1960'
Students Lucy Pollock and Harry Stewart-Dilley with Natalia Nowakowska and Benjamin Thompson
Benjamin Thompson performing in Hall
The research sessions were followed by drinks in the Brittain Williams Room to celebrate the funding of the Liz Cooke Fellowship in History, dinner in Hall, and finally, second dessert in the Mary Somerville Room. The day was a wonderful opportunity to mark the successful endowment of the Liz Cooke Fellowship, which will protect History teaching at Somerville in perpetuity, and honour Liz Cooke’s remarkable contributions to College.
The day also included memorable musical performances by our Liz Cooke Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History, Benjamin Thompson, including a specially prepared comic song about historians, ably accompanied by organ scholar Alfred Kelsey (2023, Music).
We received some very positive feedback from alumni who attended the day, including Colette Hooper (1999, History.) who wrote that, “It was really lovely to see faces old and new and reminded me that Somerville historians are most excellent people!” We couldn’t agree more.