I am a social scientist and social & cultural historian with particular focus on 19th and 20th-century history. My research to date has examined the experiences of gay and bisexual men in post-war Scotland, as well as tracing the history of same-sex desire from the 17th century to the late 20th century in Scotland. Further, my research engages with gender history, in particular through analysis of dominant constructs of masculinity and the emergence and visibility of 'queer masculinities' from the interwar period onwards. I also have research interests in Scottish historical demography, in particular household forms in Scotland from the mid 19th century to the pre-war period; immigration; and poor relief. Recent and forthcoming publications have examined the impact of World War One upon women and families in Scotland, the interactions between homosexual law reform organisations and religious institutions in Scotland, masculinity and effeminacy, 'queer emotions', and boarding and lodging in working-class Scottish homes at the turn of the 20th century.

My publications cover a variety of 19th and 20th century social history, from household formation and economics in early 20th-century Scotland, through to examining the intersections of religious faith and sexuality. I am a member of the Centre for the History of Medicine. I have provided support to the Equality Network in the move to pardon historic (homo)sexual offences, and have been active in the media, being the historical consultant for the BBC Scotland/Hopscotch Fims production 'Coming Oot! A Fabulous History of Gay Scotland'. Further media work includes the BBC Radio Scotland 'Time Travels' programme which focused on William Paton and the interwar Glasgow Whitehats.

Research Interests

• Sexuality and Sexual Identity
• Law, Medicine and Sexuality
• Sexuality and Religion
• Same-Sex Relationships
• Marriage and Relationships in Historical Context
• Poor Relief in Scotland
• Oral History
• Masculinities
• Queer Emotions
• HIV & AIDS

Research groups

• Economic & Social History

List by: Type | Date

My supervision interests include same-sex identities and experiences from the late 19th century onwards; diverse masculinities from 1850 onwards; interwar culture and society; post-war youth cultures; the census, housing and family life in Scotland, 1861-1911; the history of HIV/AIDS in Britain; the intersections of medicine and sexuality in twentieth-century Britain; the development of LGB leisure and culture in Scotland, c. 1900-1990; post-conflict soldiers and family life, c. 1918-1950.

Current Students (First Supervisor)

Ivan Sanchez-Hervas: Diagnosing Sex:A Medico-Legal History of Intersex Experiences in Scotland, 2022-2025

• Sanchez Hervas, Ivana
  Corrected Registry Entries and the Diagnosis of Sex at Birth

Teaching

Undergraduate

Course Co-ordinator (Honours)

Youth Culture, Deviance and Society, c.1880 - c.1980 (ESH 4077)

Sexualities and Social Control, c.1885-1980 (ESH 4079)

Family & Relationships (ESH 4048) 2016-17, 2019-20

Course Convenor

Economic and Social History, Level 2A/2B (ESH 2001/2002), 2017-19, 2B 2022-

Economic and Social History, Level 3 (3001, 3002, 3003), 2016-2022

MSc in Global Economy CSR in the Global Economy (with Chris Miller)

Course Contributions

Economic and Social History Level 2A & 2B (ESH 2001, 2002)

Economic and Social History Level 3 (3001, 3002, 3003)

Family and Family Relationships, 1750-1914 (ESH 4048)

BSc Medical Humanities

Postgraduate

Course Contributions

The Globalised Economy (SPS5016)

Course Co-ordinator

CSR in the Global Economy (ESH 5066) (with Chris Miller), 2019-20

Newspaper/Media Articles

O'Neill, C. 'Meet me at the Knob' - The history of Glasgow's gay scene and the infamous Whitehats', Glasgow Live, 19 November, 2019

Meek, J., ‘Scotland leads Europe on LGBT rights, but shouldn’t forget its past’, The Conversation, 10 December 2015

Meek, J., ‘Essay of the week: Before the enlightenment – the battle for LGBT rights in Scotland’, Sunday Herald, 29 November 2015

Meek. J., ‘Homophile Priests, LGBT Rights, and Scottish Churches, 1967-1986’, Notches: Remarks on the History of Sexuality (2015)

Meek, J., ‘Dinnae Meddle!’*: Scotland and the Historiography of Homosexual Law Reform’, Notches: Remarks on the History of Sexuality (2015)

Podcasts

Glasgow City Heritage Trust - If Walls Could Talk - Mapping Queer Glasgow

Additional Information

Convener of the Scottish Sexualities Research Network

Awards

Winner of the John Foster Prize, and the Court Medal, 2005, University of Paisley

Recent and Forthcoming Conference Papers

• 'Glasgow's Queer Interwar Underworld', Glasgow Doors Open Day Festival, September 2019
• "Just Whose History is it? Pondering Hidden Histories and Untold Stories", Keynote Speech at the Historical Perspectives Conference, University of Edinburgh, June 2016.
•  '"That Class of Men": Policing Queer Sexualities in Urban Scotland, 1885-1980', University of Dundee, School of Social Sciences, March 2016.

• “The Queer Man and the Medic: Examining Medical Interactions with Homosexuality in Scotland, 1885-1980”, Glasgow History of Medicine Group, RCPSG, December 2015
• “Fear! Pleasure! Risk! Emotional Narratives in the Sexual Metropolis, 1930-80”, Scottish Oral History Centre, December 2015
• ‘What a queer set up’: intimate relationships between men in mid-twentieth century Scotland’, International Symposium on intimacy, courtship, marriage and emotions, University of Glasgow, 11 September 2015
• “‘He calls him his ‘husband’!” Exploring Public and Private Representations and Experiences of Same-Sex Relationships, Civil Partnerships & Marriages in Scotland’, ‘Public and Private': Interdisciplinary Workshop, University of Glasgow, 14 May 2015
• “Oh, let the Buggers marry!”: Gay and Bisexual Men, Marriage, Partnerships and Families in Post-war Scotland, Non-traditional marriages, partnerships and families in Scotland: Past and Present, University of Glasgow, May 2014
• Centre for Gender History, University of Glasgow, March 2014 with Annmarie Hughes, ‘World War I, family breakdown and social regulation in Scotland’
• Beyond Tradition? Non-traditional marriage, partnerships and family in Scotland, past and present, University of Glasgow, May 2014, '"Oh, Let the Buggers marry!" Non-heterosexual men, partnerships and family in post-war Scotland'
• European Social Science History Conference 2014, Vienna,  The ‘Stranger’ Amongst Us:  Boarders and Lodgers within Working-Class Households in early twentieth-century Scotland’
• Exploring Masculinities in Scottish History, University of St Andrews, March 2014 ‘That Class of Men’: effeminacy, sodomy, and failed masculinities in Scotland 1885-1930
• Panel presentation, The International Federation for Research in Women’s History, Sheffield,  April 2013 with Eleanor Gordon, Rosemary Elliot, Annmarie Hughes, ‘World War 1 and its impact on marriage and the family: Scotland’
• LGBT Lives Seminar, University of Glasgow, May 2009, member of organising and chairing panel, paper delivered: "Negotiating the Discredited: Gay & Bisexual Men’s Narratives in Scotland, 1940 to 1980"
• Scottish Oral History Centre Workshop, University of Strathclyde, February 2009, "Ethical Dilemmas, Protocol and Shocking Revelations: Oral History Research with Difficult to Reach Groups"
• Queer 50s Conference, Birkbeck College, University of London, May 2009, "Silence, Perversions & Hellfire: Locating the 'Queer' in the 'Queer 50s' in Scotland'"
• Conference Paper for "Becoming or Unbecoming? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Research in the 21st Century", Northumbria University, November 2008, "Self-perception and Identity in the Narratives of Gay Men in Scotland, 1940-1980".
• Historical Perspectives Annual Conference, May 2008, "BEWARE! Homosexual Men Using this Toilet may be Arrested: The Scottish Minorities Group, 1969 to 1980"
• Seminar Paper for the Centre for the History of Medicine and Diseases, Durham University, February 2008, 'Habitual Pederasts, Funnelling and Fissures: The Role of the Medic in Scottish Sodomy Trials, 1900 to 1935'
• Women's History Scotland Spring Conference, March 2007 - 'This Class of Men': Queer Life in Industrial Glasgow, from 1900 to 1930'

Media

'William Paton and the Whitehats', Time Travels, BBC Radio Scotland

Historical Adviser to the Hopscotch Films/BBC Scotland documentary 'Coming Oot! A Fabulous History of Gay Scotland', broadcast 30 November 2015

Expert contributor to Good Morning Scotland (BBC Radio Scotland)

Columnist for a variety of online news publications