Dr Esther Wilson
Associate Lecturer in Modern British History and Public History

Profile

Biography

Qualifications: BA (Hons) History, University of York; MA Public History, University of York; PhD Public History, University of York; Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Esther is a public historian primarily interested in the relationships between history and performance across stage and screen. She is interested in how ideas about the past are represented and negotiated within transmedial environments, and how interdisciplinary approaches might help historians navigate ever-changing digital, cultural, and political contexts.

Research

Overview

Esther's work typically involves (but is not limited to) histories of the eighteenth century to the present day, primarily covering the United Kingdom and United States.

Esther's PhD thesis was interested in the value of performative and transmedial frameworks as part of understanding public engagement with history in an evolving social media landscape. Though aligned with the University of York’s Institute for Public Understandings of the Past (IPUP), the research brought together scholarship from theatre and performance studies, digital cultures and interactive media, modern history, politics, and American studies. Using 'Hamilton: An American Musical' and its diverse cultural presence as a case study, the work broadly asked what means to 'make' history and spoke particularly towards: challenging pasts and presents; histories of protest and activism; historical education; social media and digital cultures; public history as performance and histories of performance.

Esther is currently co-editor of the Kinetic Histories project with Australian colleague Dr Christine de Matos, which seeks to advance the place of dance within public history scholarship. Esther is also working on a range of wider projects around public histories of musical theatre and performance while making plans to publish her PhD research.

Esther's previous work across the University of York's School of the Arts and Creative Technologies, Department of Sociology, and Department of Education continues to influence her broader research interests around student success and innovative HE pedagogy.

Teaching

Undergraduate

- HIS00130I Public History Project (Year 2, core)
- HIS00141I Using and Abusing the Past in Britain, 1835-2018 (Year 2, option)

Publications

Selected publications

Select publications include:

- Esther Wilson and Christine de Matos eds., ‘Kinetic Histories’ special issue, International Public History (June 2028)

- Esther Wilson, “‘Love, Loss, and Imperial Intimacy’: Empress Elisabeth in MacMillan’s Mayerling,” To Play the Queen, ed. Sarah Betts (Press TBA)

- Esther Wilson, “Empathising with The People’s Princess: Diana and Public Engagement with The Crown and its Past,” Television and Empathy, ed. Michael Samuel and Theresa Trimmel (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2026)

- David Clayton, Henrice Altink, and Esther Wilson, “Piloting the responsible and effective use of generative AI in undergraduate History Teaching,” Royal Historical Society Blog (July 2025)