Professor David Olusoga speaks of inspirations and value of public history in the first National Humanities Lecture

On 4 February, Professor David Olusoga delivered the first National Humanities Lecture. In a thought-provoking address, Professor Olusoga made the argument for the value of the humanities through personal reflections and a discussion of the present and future state of the disciplines.  

The occasion was marked by a welcome invitation from Professor Jo Fox, Dean of the School of Advanced Study, and introductory remarks from Chair of Public Understanding of the Humanities, Professor Sarah Churchwell. 

In her opening remarks, Professor Churchwell announced recipients of the Public Humanities Fellowship at the School, which include Professor Olusoga. 

Joining Professor Olusoga as Public Humanities Fellows are: 

• Professor Carenza Lewis, Professor of Public Understanding of Research at University of Lincoln  
• Dr Adam Rutherford, President of the British Humanist Association and Science Writer and Broadcaster  
• Professor Lyndsey Stonebridge, Chair of Humanities and Human Rights, University of Birmingham 
• Erica Wagner, Author and Distinguished Fellow of the Writers Centre, Goldsmiths, University of London 

The Fellows will work with the School to advance the public humanities agenda within the United Kingdom and around the world, supporting the School’s mission to advance and promote the humanities.  

Following Professor Churchwell’s introduction and announcement, Professor Olusoga took the stage in a packed Beveridge Hall at Senate House to describe his journey as an educator of public history and expand on why the humanities are so valuable.  

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Professor Olusoga reflected on his career and how, despite initially walking away from education, was drawn back by his interest in public history, as experienced in childhood through BBC programming and free access to museums and cultural institutions. 

Professor Olusoga noted the sad news of ongoing department closures, and the irony of Canterbury Christ Church University closing its English Literature department, which would mean “it will soon no longer be possible to study English literature in the same city Aphra Behn and Christopher Marlowe were born [in]; the city to which Geoffrey Chaucer’s pilgrims trudge in Canterbury Tales.”  

Criticising the attitudes of policymakers towards humanities provision, Professor Olusoga questioned why humanities subjects often have to justify their value, and criticised criteria that would prevent him from teaching history in a British classroom, despite having written history books and lesson plans used in curricula across the country. 

“Candidates seeking a place on a teacher training course in England need a bachelor's degree in any subject, but they also need GCSE grade four or above in both English and maths,” Professor Olusoga noted.  

“Sounds reasonable in theory, but I don't have GCSE maths. Irrespective of what other qualifications I might acquire that means I'm not eligible to teach history in a British classroom. 

“The result of this inflexible criteria imposed from the top-down means that I'm in the ridiculous position of having written history books for children that are used in classrooms and having published history lesson plans which are used in schools but not being qualified to teach my own books and my own lesson plans in the classroom.” 

Professor Olusoga made a powerful argument for the humanities, pointing out that the “suspicion, at times the hostility, shown to the humanities subjects clashes with the often unacknowledged and unrecognised enthusiasm for the humanities in everyday life.” The rise of genealogy and the popularity of ancestry websites, Professor Olusoga argued, demonstrate the strength of public appetite for such involvement.  

Professor Olusoga finished the lecture by speaking of the project for which he was most proud, and the one that “still leaves [him] astonished and humbled by the power of the humanities.”  

Professor Olusoga explained how Professor Michelle Barrett, then of Queen Mary University of London, used documents from the Archives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to demonstrate how, in the 1920s, the Commission had failed to live up to its founding principles.  

“Michelle’s paper was almost a decade old when I read it,” Professor Olusoga said, “and yet historical facts as incendiary as that, a scandal involving one of the most revered and respected national institutions had not become common knowledge.  

“Disconnects like this between what scholars uncover and what becomes part of public debate and public history are not unusual. [It] is why public humanities and public history are needed.” 

Professor Olusoga explained how, after years of trying to convince television commissioners of the importance of the findings, he and Professor Barrett finally were able to persuade Channel Four to let them make a documentary, which David Lammy, Member of Parliament for Tottenham, presented.  

As a result of this work, not only was an apology issued by the British Government, but an elderly Kenyan woman, Esther, was able to discover how and where her husband had died in the Second World War.  

Professor Olusoga concluded the lecture with this powerful example of the impact of public history, and stated that, whenever he is tired and he asks himself why he is doing this, he thinks of Esther and her children.  

The National Humanities Lecture will be an annual event at the School of Advanced Study, delivered each year by an esteemed public figure to the disciplines, and represents the School’s ongoing commitment to advancing and promoting the humanities.