Making early modern naval history relevant: Discussing warship design in the undergraduate classroom

How can the current state of naval history in higher education be described? With events including The State of Maritime Research in September 2017, and with the development of new courses such as the MA in Naval History at the University of Portsmouth, it could be said that the field is experiencing a restoration following a series of unpopular wars since the 1970s that resulted in the marginalisation of war studies.1 Yet, with this said, it is in my experience that the field continues to attract certain stigmas that are disseminated among new and existing students. Perhaps it is because of war’s unpopularity in current affairs that the majority of today’s academics and researchers are more inclined to refer to themselves as “maritime” rather than “naval” historians, even when they focus on naval history.