I had the privilege of devising and teaching a Graduate Seminar on Society and Politics in Wilheimine Germany, at Columbia University, New York 1980, while a Visiting Associate Professor.
I taught an Option for the M.A in Victorian Studies, course on Crime and Society, at Birkbeck in 1991-2, after which I remodelled the degree course and brought in other Departments including History of Art.
I taught an option for the M.A in Gender Studies, Option on the History of Feminism: Text and Context, at Birkbeck. 1992, and devised the new M.A in Historical Research, teaching the Core Course on History and Historians, and an Option on Aspects of German History, at Birkbeck, 1996-7.
I devised the M.A in Historical Research at Birkbeck in 1996 in response to British Academy requirements for research training for postgraduates; 15 students completed the first year in 1996, three of them full-time, and twenty students entered the course in 1997. I also set up a new M.A. in Modern History which proved extremely popular.
At Cambridge I taught an option on ‘Law and Society in Modern Europe’ in the M.Phil. in European Studies in 1999-2000. During the academic year 2001-2002 I devised and steered through the approval process a new M.Phil. in Modern European History, which came on-stream in October 2003. I have chaired this successful M.Phil. since its inception, except when I have been on study leave. I have also taught the Core Course (History and Historians) and from October 2008 to October 2010 taught an Option on ‘Britain and Germany since the 18th Century’. I have been Director of the M.Phil. since it began, except during periods of leave, and thus responsible for admissions, curriculum, and examinations. The M.Phil regularly attracts around 17-20 students from leading universities across the world.
Research Supervision
PhD: completed: at UEA: Lynn C Abrams (1989), Ian Connor (taken over from Volker Berghahn, 1988), Cathleen S Catt (1990). At Birkbeck: Juanita Roche (1995), Samuel Odubena (took over supervision from Douglas Dakin in 1993, completed 1995), Nikolaus Wachsmann (2000). At Cambridge; Stefan Goebel (2002, taken over from Jay Winter)), Dan Parkinson (2002), Jan Rüger (2002), Kristin Semmens (2003), Bernhard Fulda (2003), Dan Vyleta (2003), Elizabeth Vlossak (2004), Riccarda Torriani (2005), Christian Goeschel (2006), Max Horster (2007), Astrid Swenson (2007), Victoria Harris (2007), Tom Neuhaus (2008), Hester Vaizey (2008), Hugo Service (2009), Mehmet Yeriçil (2010), David Motadel (2010), Alois Maderspacher (2010), Bradley Hart (2011), Stefan Ihrig (2011), Toby Simpson (2011), Mark Miller (2012), Bryce Sait (2013), Rachel Hoffman (2014), John Müller (2015).
Revised versions of 16 of these PhDs have been published as books.
In 2015 my former PhD students presented me with a Festschrift: “Rewriting German History”, published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Examining
In all my appointments I have been an examiner almost every year except when on leave. At Cambridge I examined Part II of the Historical Tripos in 1999 and 2000 and Part I in 2001 and 2002. In 2002 and again in 2004 I was Chairman of the Board of Examiners for Part I, and introduced major procedural reforms, as well as recommending many further changes to the Faculty Board in my report. Under my Chairmanship the length of the final examiners’ meeting was reduced by several hours in comparison to previous years. I was dispensed from examining in 2007-2011 by virtue of my chairmanship of the Faculty (including dispensation for the year before and after holding office).
I have acted as internal examiner for Ph.D. and M.A./M.Phil. candidates at UEA, Birkbeck and Cambridge on a number of occasions. I was external examiner in 1985-88 for the BA in History, University of Manchester and in 1991-3 for the BA in History, University of Sussex. I have examined PhD dissertations for the Universities of East Anglia (twice), London (twice), Manchester, York, Melbourne, Belfast, Oxford and Cambridge (three times).