Example history dissertation topic 8:

Divided by race: A primary source investigation into the first modern race riots of England: Nottingham, 1958

Issues of community and identity are at the interface of sociology and history. It is also an arena of increasing academic importance with a notable rise in the number of studies being published under the banner of Historical Urban Studies. The influx of Afro-Caribbeans into the UK in the late 1950s and 1960s is well documented as is the Notting Hill riots. Of less pre-eminence in the national psyche is that the riots that occurred in Nottingham during the same period made it the first ‘race riot city’ of the UK. Using recently released archives as well as primary research this study breaks new ground.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Crozier, G. (2009) ‘Race and education: Policy and politics in Britain’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 30(2), pp. 245-250.
• Lawrence, D. (1974) Black migrants: White natives. A study of race relations in Nottingham. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.