Student Volunteering Awards 2021

News | Posted on Tuesday 8 June 2021

Second year Film and Television Production Student, Molly Danity, and her group win a University of York Student Volunteering Award.

Every year, the University of York hosts the Student Volunteering Awards, recognising student volunteers who have gone above and beyond to support the local community, these awards were run as part of National Volunteers’ Week.

Mollly Danity - a second year Film and Television production student at TFTI - and her team have created a set of history podcasts for GCSE/A-Level Students as part of a Community Project through Careers and Placements. 

Molly, James (History), Nell (History), Hannah (History) Madeline (English and Related Literature) and Niamh (Biology) created History Nerds with the aim to inspire the next generation of history enthusiasts to pursue their interests, and show that history is more than just what is presented in the school curriculum. Each podcast is designed to complement a topic that is often taught at school and is designed to develop students knowledge and further thinking. Over the Autumn and Spring term 2020/21, the History Nerds Community Project was piloted, as part of the student engagement in knowledge exchange programme at the University of York. 

History Nerds currently covers a wide range of global history. The first episode looks at the Stuart and Tudor period, with a focus on the power of the Monarchy through art and literature, as well as colonialism at that time. Episode two explores film history, focusing on how Germany and Russia experienced their 'golden ages of cinema' in between the First and Second World Wars in the 1920s. Their final podcast focuses on the Vietnam War; America's role in this war, Mao Zedong's communist regime in the twentieth century, and how Jane Fonda and Jung Chang have influenced how we read and write about this period of history.

I really enjoyed being given the opportunity to work on the History Nerds Podcast. It was a great opportunity to expand my knowledge of history, a subject I enjoy, as well as adding skills useful to my CV. I'm really proud of what the team has achieved in terms of the quality of their research, but also the scripting and audio post production skills, which I found to be particularly useful and enjoyable. I hope the students who listen to it find it both informative and enjoyable, to reflect the hard work and enthusiasm the team put into this project".  - Molly Danity, 2nd Year FTP

The resources were added to The History Nerds website - a space for students in Year 11 - 13 from all backgrounds who love history to come together at least once a term to chat and learn more about the past - as well as Spotify, to be used by teachers and students.

To learn more about volunteering at University of York, contact volunteering@york.ac.uk or visit the Unvieristy of York's Student Volunteering page.