Rate My Professor Matthew Smith

Matthew Smith is an Associate Professor in Public Humanities in the Department of History at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, part of the School of Humanities. He also holds the position of Director of External Engagement for the School of Humanities, focusing on developing partnerships for collaborative research, teaching, and public engagement activities. Smith earned his PhD in History from Royal Holloway in 2008, with a thesis entitled 'Making Sense of the Germans: 1945-1948'. His academic interests encompass heritage theory, museum studies, digital curation, public engagement, partnerships, public history, collaborative research, British history, rights and representation, and democratic heritage.

Throughout his career, Smith has been actively involved in impactful public history initiatives. He is the creator and producer of the educational History Hub YouTube channel, developed under the National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported 'Citizens: 800 Years in the Making' project. As a Trustee of Egham Museum, he contributes to local heritage preservation. Since November 2020, he has served as Public Engagement and Education Adviser for the United Kingdom Supreme Court, with his term extending until November 2025. His collaborations include prestigious institutions such as the Black Cultural Archives, the History of Parliament Trust, the National Archives, the National Trust, the People's History Museum, the UK Parliament, and the UK Supreme Court, aligning his work with UN Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education. Smith's scholarly contributions include several notable publications. These comprise 'Building Engaged Humanities Infrastructure: An Experiment in Intra-Institution Collaboration' co-authored with C. Daley (2025), 'Engaged Humanities at Royal Holloway, University of London' with C. Daley and C. Gauthier (2021), 'Citizens: Eight Hundred Years in the Making' with S. Franklin (2020), and 'Curating the Idea of Magna Carta' (2018). Earlier in his career, he delivered public lectures such as 'British Accounts from Occupied Germany, 1946-48' and ''Hitler is no accident': the Vansittart controversy and its legacy' in 2007.