University of Birmingham launches new Stuart Hall archive project

The University of Birmingham has announced a new multidisciplinary project to expand public understanding and engagement with the work of Professor Stuart Hall. The project is centred on Stuart Hall’s Archive, deposited at the University by Stuart Hall’s family. Hall taught at the University of Birmingham from 1964 to 1979.

Over the course of the project, the Cadbury Research Library will catalogue the archive. Led by Stuart Hall Foundation Associate Dr Nick Beech, the project itself is split into three main strands: Conjectures, Readings, and Dialogues.

Conjunctures
Patricia Noxolo, Professor of Human Geography and Chair in Postcolonial Geographies at the University of Birmingham, leads the Conjunctures strand. Professor Noxolo will develop a programme of engagement with the extended Caribbean cultural and social diasporas, and minority communities, presenting new questions, practices and methods of teaching from Stuart Hall’s work.

Readings
Stuart Hall Foundation Associate Dr Nick Beech will join the University of Birmingham as an Associate Professor for three years to lead the Readings strand, as well as the project as a whole. This will recover previously unpublished or under-appreciated work by Stuart Hall and situate that work in his intellectual and political formation and development.

Dialogues
Dr Rebecca Roach, Associate Professor of Contemporary Literature at the University of Birmingham, leads the Dialogues strand. This will digitise Stuart Hall’s Archive and develop new methods of engagement with the materials to make them more accessible to the public and scholars, whole introducing new questions of historical and contemporary relevance.

Commenting on the project, Dr Beech said:

“Stuart Hall’s archive forms a major part of his intellectual and political legacy. Unseen papers, recordings of lectures, seminars and television and radio broadcasts – these will be made accessible again and for the first time, enabling audiences – new and old – to read, see, and hear Hall’s critical interventions and provocations, as they were made in the past and in the light (and shadow) of the present.”

Dr Nick Beech, Associate Professor at the Birmingham School for Social Policy, University of Birmingham, and Associate at the Stuart Hall Foundation

Professor Richard Black, Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Social Sciences, who has been overseeing the development of the project said:

“The influence and work of Stuart Hall cannot be underestimated. This three-year project will deliver a real step change in the condition, digital accessibility and use of Stuart Hall’s archive bringing his incredible insights and thinking back into focus for the public and academics all over the world. It is also the first step in a number of interventions the University is making to profile his work, engage with our diverse communities and promote the use of our archives.”

Professor Richard Black, Pro-Vice-Chancellor

Click here to find out more about the project from the University of Birmingham website.

Visit the Stuart Hall Archive Project website here.