Project Partners
Sawston Village College is very pleased to be working with two partners on this project:
· Anglia Ruskin University, represented by Dr Sean Lang
· Stories – Projects in Film, represented by Peter Harmer
The school is also pleased to have support from Sawston Village History Society and from the Royal British Legion Sawston Branch for this project.
We are also grateful to have support in sessions from local residents Karen Wright, Renate Milner and Bryan Howe. As part of this project we are researching one of Karen’s grandfathers and Renate’s great uncle, while Bryan is supporting us with research into Traviss Teversham.
Dr Seán Lang
Senior Lecturer, History;
Chairman, Better History Forum
Email: [email protected]
Dr Seán Lang is Senior Lecturer in History, specialising in the history of the British Empire. He did his PhD at Anglia Ruskin, focusing on the battle against maternal mortality in nineteenth-century British India, on which he has published. His interests in imperial history range widely, including the social history of empire, imperialism in popular and children’s literature, and decolonisation. Seán has also published on nineteenth-century British political history and he is developing his research interests in the development of British constitutional identity from the sixteenth century onwards.
Seán’s career spans different sectors of education. He worked for many years in schools and colleges in Cambridge, including nine years as Head of History at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge. He was also Lecturer in Education at Exeter University for four years. He is Honorary Secretary of the Historical Association and has acted as adviser both to Government and to Opposition, as well as the Council of Europe, on issues related to history and history education. In 2005 he chaired the group that produced the Historical Association’s important report on ‘History 14-19’. He regularly speaks on matters relating to history on Radio 5 Live and on local radio. He has written textbooks and is joint editor of Twentieth Century History Review for which he writes regularly. He has written three works of popular history in the ‘for Dummies’ series.
Dr Sean Lang is currently chair of The Better History Group; a small Think Tank of experienced history teachers and lecturers concerned to improve the current position and quality of history in the school curriculum.
Dr Lang is currently researching the British crown and India from Queen Victoria to George V and the ‘Hitlerisation’ of the school history curriculum in England.
Peter Harmer
Filmmaker, Stories – Projects in Film
Peter Harmer is a professional freelance filmmaker who studied Digital Screen Arts at The Surrey Institute of Art and Design University College, graduating with a first class BA in 2004. He has worked on many heritage projects and has enjoyed collaborative working with Sawston Village College, leading the filmmaking for projects such as ‘Projecting the Past’ and ‘Henry Morris – the Life and Legacy’, past very successful lottery-funded heritage projects which have taken place at the school. Peter Harmer also plays a very active role in the school’s filmmaking club, mentoring young people there and supporting and leading filmmaking activities. Peter Harmer says of himself:
‘I am an ambitious and creative individual with an attentive eye for detail. I always aim for the highest possible standard in the films that I make and projects that I facilitate. I have wide-ranging skills in areas of film production. These include camera, sound recording, directing, producing and editing skills. I am passionate about teaching and helping others to develop skills and grow as creative practitioners.
I formed ‘Stories’ in 2008 as an umbrella organisation for the filmmaking projects I run for youth, community and educational organisations. Stories’ projects take place throughout the UK and frequently involve collaborations with other organisations and professionals in the film industry.’
