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- African Studies
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- The Chair: In The Room at the Fed
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About Jacob Ward
I'm an historian of the post-1945 Western world, working at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. My research has spanned the history of science and technology, environmental history, urban and architectural history, financial and business history, and political history. I'm currently working on a history of futurology, both in the United Kingdom and in Europe more broadly. I'm interested in how different ways of knowing the future rose and fell with the political and economic transformations of the late 20th century, such as the "market turn" and European integration.
I'd like to become more of a generalist historian, rather than a specialist, and that's one of the reasons I'm excited by the idea of becoming an NBN host - I want to not only leverage but also develop my expertise. I love to learn new things, especially on the borders of my expertise. Looking ahead, I'm particularly keen to work on educational history and the idea of history as an "inventory of alternatives" that can widen the horizons of contemporary society.
NBN Episodes hosted by Jacob:
December 13, 2025
Futures of Socialism
The transformation of the Labour Party by 1997 is among the most consequential political developments in modern British history. Futures of Socialism …
November 2, 2025
Making a Grade
Making a Grade: Victorian Examinations and the Rise of Standardized Testing (U Toronto Press, 2025) takes historiographic and sociological perspective…