Jack leads a number of public history and heritage related modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He leads on relationships with external groups and organisations for the History team, working with a range of partners. He organises public-facing events, training workshops, and conferences, as well as advising on heritage-related projects. Jack is committed to working with local and regional history groups and is a committee member of the Lancashire Local History Federation and trustee of the British Association of Local History. Jack has also been co-convener the Heritage Network at UCLan.
Jack completed his PhD at UCLan, working with, and funded by the Lancashire Museum Service. He has published on subjects related to the British textile industry and the legacy of industrial decline in Lancashire. He has recently been involved in several externally funded transdisciplinary projects, examining creative approaches and responses to heritage. Recent examples include working with the National Trust and Burnley Football Club on an oral history of football training, and collaborating with colleagues Amanda Odlin and Christopher Molloy on oral histories of migration in the cotton industry. Jack has presented his research findings at domestic and international conferences, as well as discussing linked issues in newspapers and on BBC radio. His current research focusses on the relationship between urban and rural textile communities.
