Staff Profile

As a Visiting Researcher in Oral History, Sue Bradley is looking at ways in which oral histories in archive collections can open up conversations about animals and human-animal relationships in the present as well as the past. Her sources include interviews recorded for FIELD (Farm-level Interdisciplinary Approaches to Endemic Livestock Disease), a project that brought epidemiologists, economists and social scientists together with historians to research entrenched conditions in cattle and sheep: https://field-wt.co.uk

The FIELD oral histories, recorded with shepherds and farmers, go back to the mid-20^th century. These are not simply ‘stories’ about the past, but in-depth reflective accounts that invite us to continue the conversation from where we stand today.  

Sue also works with oral histories of veterinary practice and of the environment more widely. Previously, she has recorded oral histories of publishing and bookselling, and of women’s work in the film and television industries.

She is a member of Newcastle University’s Oral History Collective: https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/oral-history/2018/08/06/introducing-sue-bradley-our-third-research-associate/