1st meeting group presentation

For our first group presentation meeting, all four of us decided to all gather  in the Newton Park library on campus and this was to become a permanent venue for our meetings. The time set was 12pm for all meetings and this seemed to be reasonable and convenient for all of us as an earlier time would have been hard to attend for the couple of group members who had residence off-campus (in the city centre) and it allowed group members to get food and drink on-campus for lunch to fuel our brains. The whole group was disciplined in terms of meeting at the time set so there was no delay in getting on with the work. We were all aware of what topic within the Second World War Social London focus each of us were researching for our individual parts of the group presentation. My assignment was on the London transport system during the Second World War. Others in the group had assignments such as bombing with a specific focus on the Blitz Luftwaffe air raids and another assignment that Jack did was focused on the British army which looked at army conscription and the returning of soldiers from overseas back into London. We all had a clear idea of how were going to conduct our research; for example, I was knowledgeable of the vast array of books in the library already there in the library which focused on social London history and due to my knowledge which was enhanced by reading the core text (Roy Porter's, London, a social history) that London had always had a rich transport system due to its ever-growing size and population so i knew there was bound to be lots of books on the transport system, especially in such a landmark time of the Second World War. I also knew the accessibility of e-media like EEBO (Early English Books Online), the online journals like JSTOR and just the basic internet search itself.

The computer software to be used was Microsoft Powerpoint and this was compulsory for all groups and individuals in them. I planned to divide my transport presentation into the chapters of the different modes of transport in operation in London during the Second World War which were buses/coaches, trams, trains and the underground. So I had a good image in my mind of what I wanted it to be like by the first meeting. We started discussing the duration of each group members presentation section which we would later find out after much uncertainty that it was to be at least 20 minutes each. This amount of time gave us the impression that we had to provide enough content to fill more than 5 slides as anything less than that, we felt would not be long enough. The group had a good chemistry, we all had ideas regarding the order in which we would present and it was all agreeable due to its fairness. So I aimed to do 5 main slides plus an introduction and conclusion.

Jack came with ideas for his soldier aspect of the group presentation saying how he would lay it out and had ideas about a minority of content. He did suggest the concept of visiting a London Military Museum and the Imperial War Museum was seen as the most favourable  due to its high value in  
personal accounts of what was happening when Conscription to the armed forces was taking place, accounts of leaving family behind, when the bombing raids occurred, accounts of experiences of guerilla warfare. which could act as reliable primary sources. Whilst at the museum, Jack proposed to research the ways in which the soldiers would get to the front lines of the Western Front and this meant taking one or more means of transport so this research could not only benefit him, but it coincided with my research as my topic was specifically based on transport because I could see what modes of transport had the function to accommodate soldiers and what transport were primarily focused on transporting women and children for evacuation or taking goods around to keep the country running. Sarah was pondering throughout most of the session about how she could demonstrate the size and danger of these bombs because she wanted to enhance her presentation to be more than the norm; which was just text and images, but she wanted to bring in a physical object into her part of the presentation. We all thought this was a great idea as it would make us stand out from the other groups and therefore, get us a better overall mark.

Friday 22nd Seminar: Source interpreting

Friday seminar blog

The main lecturer for this session was unavailable today. This session allowed me to be able to locate sources (Journals, academic papers, books) and analyse them in order to decide whether the author or the paper is accurate and authentic which will help me with my essays. This was made possible using a selection of questions which analysed the document and directed me to any important issues about its content and/or the author.

One criticism about this seminar was the fact that the stand in lecturer gave out random sources regarding society in London. The negative point about this is that the sources were not relevant to my essay topic which is London at war in World War Two. However, it shows that at university, students are not spoon fed and the lecturer has provided us with tools, i.e, the ability and knowledge to verify our own sources.

For the rest of the seminar, the lecturer was providing me with tips about where to find good sources to inform my essay and was talking about how to make a bibliography and how to make footnotes. This is beneficial to me at present because i am used to simply inserting a quote into my paragraphs and saying where this quote came from within the same sentence due to the recent lectures about the Timed Critical Analysis format in the other history modules.

25th November, Parks and Gardens lecture

Monday's lecture on Parks, Gardens and Squares of London, 1650-1901

This lecture was beneficial to me as i understood from it that London politics were changing in this period of time. The green spaces and spots of relaxation were open for everybody, rich and poor, old and young. These areas of London served as a way to unify the locals of London. Before, during the period of the Great Fire for example, there was a huge gap between rich and poor.

10th March London: West Indians in London

This lecture focused on the history of immigration into London and the problems that the immigrants faced as they tried to settle in London. This was beneficial to my knowledge about diversity and people's attitudes aurrounding it in London. It gave me  important understanding that is needed today as London is now a fully multi-cultural city with so many races and languages spoken in the capital.

March 31st London Lecture: Unable to attend

Unfortunately I fell ill on this day due to food poisoning. I felt that this hindered my progress and I will make sure I  can attend all in the future.

7th April 2014 London: Sin City: 1950-1970. The swinging city of delights and depravity

This lecture took place at a useful time for me personally as i had been part of a group presentation for this module concerning London in the Blitz of World War Two which occured a few years before this lecture's time span in the early 1940's. The lecture gave me an insight into post-war London social life.

10th March, Immigration to London task: Bengali community

For this task i am focusing on the South Asian community but particularly, the Bangladesh community who settled in London in the middle of the twentieth century.
Bangladesh was a region of British ruled Pakistan and did not gain independence until 1971.
The motivation for Bengali people to leave the state of Pakistan for London was diverse; but usually people wanted one or more of these targets: To gain qualifications, seek legal redress, obtain employment, promote a social or political cause or to seek adventure.
Initially it was mostly working men who made the trip to London, their dependents followed later and they reformed as families in London.
One South Asian writer described the sheer determination of the Bengali and other South Asian peoples in his book Migrant Journeys. "Whether hidden under crate boxes of frozen fish in big lorries or spat on to a deserted beach like washed-up drowned men with itineraries in their pockets, we got here one way or the other. What none of us knew was how to go back".
On arrival the Bengali faced many obstacles including overcrowded houses, language and cultural barriers which made it hard to go into higher education. Some discovered the harsh reality that their qualifications were not recognised in Britain and had to take training again. Life in London as not as smooth as anticipated.