Dr Hannah Charnock

I am a historian of modern Britain, specialising in the twentieth-century histories of relationships, gender, sexuality, and youth culture.

Research

I'm a social historian and my research focuses primarily on the history of inter-personal relationships. I have published articles on the history of marriage, friendship, and heterosexuality and my current research explores the social history of gender and sexuality in post-war Britain from a number of different perspectives.

Teenage Intimacies: Young women, sex  and social life in England, 1950-1980
My first book interrogates teenage girls' heterosexuality in England between 1950 and 1980. It uses oral history and Mass Observation testimonies to explore how questions of sex shaped girls' experiences of growing up during the era of so-called 'Sexual Revolution'.

Schools as Social Spaces in Post-War Britain
My current research project aims to re-write the history of schools in post-war Britain by focusing not on their role as formal education providers but instead examining them as a key site for young people's social lives. This work explores the ways that school spaces function within dynamics of friendship, bullying, and hierarchies of popularity.

Labours of Liberation: The Women's Liberation Movement in Bristol
In addition to my core research, I have an ongoing interest in histories of women's activism. Working with materials in Feminist Archive South here, I am exploring the lived reality of activist practice and feminists' role in providing social support to local communities in the 1970s and 1980s.

I am particularly interested in using historical research to shed light on contemporary social challenges. To date I have published 2 policy briefings with Policy Bristol and have written several pieces for The Conversation using my research to analyse cultural phenomena.

Teaching

I teach at all levels of our History programme.

In 2025/6 I will be contributing to the following units:

• Teenage Kicks: Youth and Subculture in Britain since 1918 (3rd year, Special Subject, TB4)
• Dissertation (3rd year, TB4)
• Sexualities (3rd year, TB1 Option)
• Gender in the Modern World (1st year, TB2 Option)
• Politics of the Past (2nd year, TB2 Option)

Research Supervision

I welcome proposals for MPhil and PhD projects from students working on the modern history of gender, sexuality, youth, popular culture and/or broader British social history.

I encourage potential research students to make contact with me in advance of making a formal application in order to discuss their ideas and to see whether I am likely to be available to supervise in the following year. Early contact is recommended especially if an applicant wishes to apply for funding.

Contact Details

Office: 71 Cotham Hill, Room G.06
Phone: 0117 33 10532
Email: [email protected]
Bluesky: @hannahcharnock