Historian
Dr George Severs is a historian of HIV/AIDS, sexual violence and sexual health in modern Britain. He is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland where he is working on a history of sexual health and race. Before moving to Geneva, George was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London where he worked on a history of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence as part of the Wellcome-funded SHaME project led by Professor Joanna Bourke. George is also in the process of turning his PhD thesis, titled ‘HIV/AIDS activism in England, c. 1982-1997’, into a book with Bloomsbury Academic. George is a leading oral historian, sitting on the Editorial Board of Oral History, the journal of the UK’s Oral History Society (OHS), and as Secretary of the OHS’ LGBTQ Special Interest Group (or ‘SIG’). In 2019-20, George was a Holstein Doctoral Fellow in Queer and Trans Studies in Religion at the University of California, Riverside.
EXPERTISE
Historical research
I am an experienced historian, specialising in modern British history, LGBTQ and queer history, and the histories of activism and religion.
Teaching
I have taught History and Politics to undergraduates at the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University. At Birkbeck, I supervise MA dissertations and teach on the MA in Medical Humanities.
Oral history
Expert oral historian with experience of interviewing, transcribing, interview analysis and oral history ‘re-use’.
Mentoring
I am a long-standing supporter of the Sutton Trust and have worked on their Cambridge summer schools for the last three years. I am dedicated to widening participation in higher education and ensuring that everyone has access to historical research.
Experience
Associate Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University
November 2019-present
Lectures and seminars taught on gender and race within the module ‘Inequality and Class’ taken by first year BA Politics and BA Sociology students. Specialist teaching provided on the ‘Politics and Activism’ class for second year BA Politics students as lead course instructor, and on the ‘Politics and Social Media’ course for third year students.
Public History Editor, Oral History Journal
May 2020-present
Undergraduate supervisor at the University of Cambridge
From April 2019 I have taught the Historical Tripos, Part I, paper 11, ‘British Social and Economic History since c. 1880’; Part II, ‘Historical Argument and Practice’ with courses offered on gender (and sexuality) and memory (and oral history).
Secretary of the Oral History Society’s LGBTQ special interest group
October 2018-present
George Severs 