Undisciplined History: Creative Methods and Academic Practice

This article explores the relationship between scholarly practice and the growing field of creative histories. Drawing on examples from the United Kingdom, it seeks to unsettle dominant approaches to creative methodologies within our discipline and suggest what these more playful and experimental approaches might add to our practice as historians. Prompted by our encounters with the rich and vital histories made by schoolchildren, community groups, filmmakers, and songwriters, we are interested in the potential of these imaginative engagements with the past to enrich academic history. The article is in conversation with online features published at Paper Trails, a new open access platform with UCL Press.