Catch up with old news from the Department. For the most current news, visit our main news page.
Professor Baer on BBC World Service
Catch up with Professor Baer's appearance as one of two panelists on BBC World Service Weekend Programme on 18 December. Listen to his contributions on the topics of the day - , and .
Post Wall Post Square: 2021 Top 10 Non-Fiction Books in Spain
Professor Kristina Spohr's latest book, the award-winning title Post Wall Post Square: Rebuilding the World after 1989 published in the UK by WilliamCollins, was chosen as one of the 2021 Top 10 Non-Fiction Books in Spain. The newspaper El Confidencial placed her book's Spanish edition - Después del muro. La reconstrucción del mundo tras 1989 - on a list including titles by Anne Applebaum, Margaret Macmillan and Orlando Figes.
Dr Sherman on India's relations with overseas Indians after Independence
In a new article, co-authored with Dr Raphaëlle Khan, Dr Taylor C. Sherman re-examines India’s relations with Indian communities in Ceylon and Burma between the 1940s and 1960s. .
"You're Dead to Me"
Dr Ronald C. Po was interviewed about the history of pirates in late imperial China for the BBC Radio 4's show. He was joined by the public historian Greg Jenner and comedian Ria Lina to parlay with Zheng Yi Sao, the most successful pirate queen of all time!
The Volga in FT's 2021 best history books list
After receiving raving reviews earlier this year, Professor Janet Hartley's latest book, The Volga: A History of Russia's Greatest River (Yale University Press), has been selected as one of the Best Books of 2021 in the History category by the Financial Times.
Dr Po awarded research grant
Congratulations to Dr Ronald C. Po who was awarded a grant from The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation for his project entitled "The Shaping of Maritime Religiosity: The Cultural History of Mount Penglai/ Hōrai in China and Japan".
Professor Baer returns to the History Hack podcast
After discussing the origins of the Ottoman Empire, Professor Marc David Baer is back to talk all about the latter part of the Empire and its ultimate decline. .
Dr Motadel on the last wave of Holocaust trials
“Many perpetrators of the Holocaust escaped justice. Should Germany prosecute as accessories to murder the elderly few who remain alive?" Dr David Motadel writes on the escape and prosecution of Nazi war criminals - and the last wave of Holocaust trials. in the new issue (2 December) of the New York Review of Books on Philippe Sands' Ratline and Ronen Steinke's Fritz Bauer biography.
Dr Lewis on Somali women
Check out a new article by Dr Joanna Lewis for 杏吧论坛’s online research magazine, Research for the World. As part of their Race Equity issue, she wrote about her new book which explores the lives of the Somali women who arrived in Britain fleeing war, and their resilience in overcoming the barriers facing them as refugees in post-Imperial Britain.
Congratulations to PhD Candidate Katherine Arnold
Katherine was the joint winner of this year’s . Her submission, entitled “German Natural History Collectors and the Pursuit of Desiderata in Early Nineteenth-Century Southern Africa”, comes from her PhD research supervised by Dr David Motadel and Dr Joanna Lewis.
Race Equity Reading List
The 杏吧论坛 Review of Books has compiled a Race Equity Reading List as part of Research for the World: Race Equity. Dr Joanna Lewis offered her recommendation of Professor Olivette Otele’s African Europeans: An Untold History (Hurst Publishers, 2020). And, her latest publication ” also features on the list. . .
Thesis awards for PhD alumni Dr Gaurav Sud and Dr Eline van Ommen
Dr Sud was awarded the for his doctoral dissertation, "", supervised by Dr Joanna Lewis. The Ivan-Hirst-Prize has been awarded since 2000 to up and coming researchers whose work touches upon the history of Volkswagen. Dr van Ommen (pictured) won the . Her thesis, "", was supervised by Dr Tanya Harmer and Professor Piers Ludlow. The Michael Dockrill Thesis Prize is awarded annually to the best doctoral thesis on any aspect and any period of International History. Many congratulations!
The Ottomans
Catch up with Professor Marc David Baer as he continues to promote his new book, , in the UK and the world. On 4 November, he visited the European Parliament Liaison Office in London for a . Soon after, he appeared in the . On 5 November he was interviewed by Michael Portillo on (from 1h36m05s). On 8 November he discussed his book on , on 9 November he was featured in the and on 22 November he was interviewed on the BBC History Magazine podcast, .
Alumni news
Check out a new profile on MSc and PhD alumnus Dr Harcourt Fuller. Eleven years after graduating with us, he is currently Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University in Atlanta and a Historical Consultant and on-screen commentator for the Channel 5 documentary series “”. You can watch the last episode of the documentary next Tuesday and catch up with the previous episodes on (UK only).
New book by PhD Alumnus and Guest Teacher Dr William King
We are very excited to announce that Dr King, a Research Fellow at the German Historical Institute London and a Guest Teacher in the Department, has recently released a book based on his PhD thesis. Dr King was supervised by Professor Matthew Jones and Professor David Stevenson. The book, , has been published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Prize for PhD Candidate
Many congratulations to Molly Avery who has been awarded the Best Article Prize 2020 by the Journal of Latin American Studies for her article "". This is an important commendation which acknowledges the strength of this piece of work out of all the submissions and eventual published works that came through the journal in 2020.
Professor Best on British-Japanese relations
Catch up with Professor Antony Best on New Books Network podcast. He talked about his latest book, (Routledge, 2020) with , a history PhD student from the University of Wisconsin. .
New book by Professor Zubok
The much awaited, by Professor Vladislav Zubok was released on 26 October. Published by Yale University Press, this major study of the collapse of the Soviet Union shows how Gorbachev’s misguided reforms led to its demise. Thirty years on, Professor Zubok, who observed the Soviet collapse for himself, offers a major reinterpretation of the final years of the USSR, refuting the notion that the breakup of the Soviet order was inevitable.
Dr Alvandi on Iran's 1971 celebrations
Dr Roham Alvandi gave an interview to Switzerland’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper on the 50th anniversary of the Shah of Iran’s 1971 Persepolis Celebrations. He explained to NZZ why the 1971 Celebrations revealed a central contradiction within the ideology of the Pahlavi state. "On the one hand, it viewed the West as the epitome of civilization and progress. At the same time, it strived for the cultural authenticity that it sought in pre-Islamic history. This led to tensions that were difficult to resolve".
Professor Baer in the media and book-related events
During the month of October, Professor Marc David Baer joined History Hack for a fascinating jaunt through 300 years of Ottoman history. Listen to him talk about his latest book, (pictured). He also appeared on the History Film Club podcast to talk about how the Ottomans have been depicted in film and television series(l). Later in the month, he discussed Ottoman history in light of his new book on "" hosted by Mitch Jeserich on radio station KPFA in California and on Australian ABC radio show with Philip Adams. On 19 October he gave a talk at “”, where he presented his major new history of the Ottoman Empire, showing how it connected East to West as never before. And on 31 October, he spoke at the about his new book.
Roundtable review of Dr Phillips' latest book
Check out a new H-Diplo Roundtable on Visiting Fellow Dr Victoria Phillips’ book . A group of commentators across disciplines explore the book’s main themes, showing how she challenges, lightly but steadfastly, preconceptions of diplomacy, dance, and what separates them. , including a response by the author.
Professor Steven Casey featured on the “History Hit Warfare” Podcast
In the "War Reporters in the Pacific" episode, Professor Casey introduces the correspondents who covered America's war against Japan in the Pacific theatre. He takes us through their experiences and their impact on the home front, shining a light on the critical role that journalists on the frontline played. on Apple, Google or Spotify.
Dr Cant on Historias podcast
Dr Anna Cant was featured on the Historias podcast to discuss her new book in conversation with Carmen Soliz. Both have published books this year on land reform, bringing together conversations about the subject from the perspectives of Peru and Bolivia. (in Spanish).
New book by Professor Baer
We are pleased to announce the release of Professor Marc David Baer’s latest book, T (Basic Books). This new history of the Ottoman dynasty recounts the Ottomans’ remarkable rise from a frontier principality to a world empire, tracing their debts to their Turkish, Mongolian, Islamic, and Byzantine heritage.
New review essay by PhD Candidate Rishika Yadav
Rishika reviews four disparate studies on war narratives which take a “view-from-below” approach, building new theoretical frameworks that not only expose “the price of war” but also investigate how “subaltern subjects” view their place and participation in the conflict and resist over-arching homogenous interpretations. .
Communication technologies in Latin American societies
Dr Anna Cant (pictured) and PhD Student Charlotte Eaton have produced a new podcast series. Featuring contributions from recognised experts in the field, Dr Cant provides an introduction to major themes in the emergence of new communication technologies and their impact on Latin American societies. .
Professor Kristina Spohr observer for the German federal elections
Professor Spohr was part of this year’s election observer trip for the German federal elections on 26 September. The observers trip started on 21 September and lasted until 27 September, and included 9 invited scholars, including Professor Spohr, and journalists from around the world. They experienced the final spurt of the election campaign up close, attended events, and discussed matters with politicians and academics. For a full report of DAAD's election observer trip, .
Dr Phillips interviews Trubkovich
Visiting Fellow Dr Victoria Phillips recently interviewed artist Kon Trubkovich for the Gagosian Quarterly (Fall 2021 issue). They discussed his new paintings, memory and its relationship to the media, and the continuing impact of the Cold War.
New book from Dr Joanna Lewis
Dr Lewis's (Hurst Publishers) recounts and analyses the stories of Somali women who survived genocide and refugee camps to arrive in London, helping us to understand their personal histories, a collective history of refugees as rebuilders, and the forgotten history and hidden legacies of Britain’s colonial past.
Dr Sood on the End of History and the Great Divergence
Dr Gagan D. S. Sood was recently interviewed by MSc Alumnus in History of International Relations (2019) for his . In their 2-part interview, they discussed Francis Fukuyama’s notion of the End of History and the nature of the field of Global History. Listen to and .
杏吧论坛 History career prospects
杏吧论坛 History has been ranked 2nd best in the UK for percentage of History graduates who find graduate-level jobs, or are in further study at professional or HE level, within fifteen months after graduation. Browse the latest for the study of history.
What's the link between the Taliban and the Islamic State?
"It’s often said there’s a clear split between Islamic State-Khorasan and the Taliban, but the harsh reality of terrorism and politics in Afghanistan is the situation is never back and white."
Check out a new argument piece by Guest Teacher Dr Sajjan Gohel in Foreign Policy, "".
Staff news
Our Department is growing and changing. We’d like to congratulate our members of staff who have recently received promotions: Dr Antony Best has been promoted to full Professor and Dr Gagan D. S. Sood and Dr Imaobong Umoren (pictured) have both been promoted to Associate Professor. Well done!
We’re also excited to announce that we have new staff joining us from September: Assistant Professor Dr Elizabeth Ingleson is joining us from Yale University. She specialises in the histories of US foreign relations, US-China relations, capitalism, and labour. Assistant Professor Dr Qingfei Yin whose research focuses on contemporary China and inter-Asian relations. Her previous appointment was with the Virginia Military Institute. Finally, our Gerda Henkel Visiting Professor for 2021/22 is Alexander Nützenadel (Humboldt University Berlin), who is an expert on European economic history in the twentieth century.
Welcome to 杏吧论坛 International History!
The BBC and the Coup
Dr Roham Alvandi appeared in a new BBC Persian documentary, examining the role of the BBC in the Anglo-American-backed coup in Iran in 1953. (in Persian).
New article by PhD Candidate William Mitchell in the Journal of Early Modern History
William writes about early modern European history. "Huguenot Contributions to English Pan-Protestantism, 1685-1700" examines how the influx of French Huguenots to England contributed significantly towards England's argument for greater pan-Protestant engagement with the European continent while supporting William III’s commitment to the Nine Years’ War against France.
Dr Ronald C. Po’s first book in Chinese out now
Published with China Times Publishing Co. in Taiwan, The Placid Ocean: Qing China and the Asian Seas connects various topics through an intellection of what Dr Po calls “new Qing maritime history.” The book will take the reader on a journey revealing how the maritime world has mattered to China, as well as how China the maritime world. (in Chinese).
Maritime Asia Conference
On 11 August, Dr Ronald C. Po presented a paper at the “Maritime Asia: Securitisation of the China Seas Conference” jointly organised by the University of Cambridge and UC Berkeley. His paper entitled “The Universal Exposition of 1906 and Fisheries Governance in Late Qing China” was part of a panel on international law and grand strategy.
Alvandi and Zubok featured in Iran International documentary
We are thrilled to announce that our own Dr Roham Alvandi and Professor Vladislav Zubok have recently been featured in a new documentary film produced by Iran International, a London-based Persian-language TV station. “Red Boots: Soviets in Iran” discusses the Soviet occupation of Iran during and after the Second World War. .
PhD Candidate Katherine Arnold has a new article in The Historical Journal
Katherine brings the colonial and Cairo exhibitions of the 1896 Berlin Trade Exhibition into the same frame to discuss the colonial-Oriental dichotomy in the German context and the application of ‘modern’ cultural forms within exhibition spaces, showing how an exhibition helped to fashion a global, imperial city at the turn of the twentieth century. .
Guest Teacher Dr Sajjan M. Gohel quoted in BBC News
In the context of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and an al-Qaeda resurgence, Dr Gohel said “The Biden withdrawal from Afghanistan makes a Taliban takeover inevitable and gives al-Qaeda the opportunity to rebuild its network, to the point where it could once again plot attacks around the world”
It pays to study History at 杏吧论坛
The latest results relating to earnings of 杏吧论坛 History graduates have now been released by the Department for Education. Taken from the median earnings of graduates five years after completing their bachelor’s degree, 杏吧论坛 History came second in the top paying courses by subject after Oxford. The median salary for the class of 2012/13 was £40,500 after 5 years in the labor market. .
Visiting Research Fellow awarded research grant
Dr Marina Pérez de Arcos has received a Willy Brandt Small Research Grant 2021 for her project and research article entitled “’Like father, like son’. Willy Brandt and Felipe González: Democracy, Social Democracy and Internationalism in Motion in the Late Cold War”. Marina's research sheds light on the significant and understudied bond between the two leaders. Based on interviews with senior policy makers; archival material from the Ebert Foundation in Bonn; and fresh material from Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Austria and the United States, the research weaves into the narrative of how personal exchange, linked with institutional support, contributed to the expansion of democracy and social democracy in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Volga FT's Summer Book of 2021
Professor Hartley's latest manuscript was named one of the by the Financial Times on 23 June. Tony Barber says "Hartley’s study of the Volga, the river that symbolises Russian identity, is a worthy companion to her 2014 book Siberia: A History of the People. She is particularly good on the way that Russians and non-Russians interacted in the centuries after Ivan the Terrible’s conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan in the 1550s."
New article in The International History Review by Professor Matthew Jones
Although many accounts of Anglo-American relations in the early 1970s stress the tensions with Washington that marked the premiership of Edward Heath, Heath’s Conservative Government stood out from other West European states over the issue of the American war in Vietnam, offering wholehearted support. Read Professor Jones's article: .
Visiting Research Fellow Dr Michael Reynolds has a new book out
Instruments of Peacemaking 1870-1914 focuses on Anglo-American disputes arising out of the civil war in the United States and British interests in the American continent: the Geneva Arbitration, the Venezuela-Guiana Arbitration and the Bhering Sea Arbitration. Check out Dr Reynold's book .
Dr Ronald C. Po awarded a second visiting fellowship in 2021/22
Offered by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in the Netherlands, Dr Po was selected out of a large pool of applicants to join them from October 2021 to January 2022, a renowned global research institute in Asian Studies. Find out more about the .
Postdoctoral fellowship success for two former PhD students supervised by Dr Joanna Lewis
Dr Caroline Green, currently an 杏吧论坛 Fellow with us has won one of the 杏吧论坛's seven ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowships. She will extend her research on the international history of women's rights, Britain, and the end of Empire. At the same time, Dr Grace Carrington has become part of a postdoctoral research team funded by the AHRC, based at Royal Holloway, which has won funding for “The Visible Crown: Queen Elizabeth II and the Caribbean, 1952 to the present”. Dr Carrington (pictured) will be building on her doctoral thesis on Decolonisation and Independence in the Caribbean.
杏吧论坛-Columbia University MSc alumnus turns dissertation into a book
Cole Manley recently turned his Master’s dissertation, supervised by Dr Imaobong Umoren, into a book with NewSouth Books. “The Unlikely World of the Montgomery Bus Boycott” moves beyond the borders of Alabama to interrogate how Black Montgomery boycotters thought about their movement in relationship to global freedom struggles, from the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, to the anti-color bar battles in Britain. The book will be released on 3 August.
Professor Marc David Baer on the Ottoman History Podcast
Check out the first part of a two-part interview where he discusses approaches to the subject of conversion in the Ottoman Empire and the history of the dönme community borne out of the transformations of the seventeenth century. .
Dr Roham Alvandi quoted in Wall Street Journal
On the election of hard-line Iranian judge Ebrahim Raisi, Dr Alvandi said, "This election makes explicit what most Iranians have already known implicitly: that the Islamic Republic will not countenance any peaceful reform. That erodes what little popular legitimacy the current political system has left". (19 June).
On a melting international order
The US, China and Russia are engaged in a struggle over the character of a melting international order. As the Arctic heats up, can its peace be preserved? Find out what Professor Kristina Spohr’s thoughts on this enduring question are in her (9 June). Don’t forget to check out her recent on the subject.
Dr Tanya Harmer on Chile's Popular Unity Experiment at 50
Check out the special issue for Radical Americas that Dr Harmer co-curated and is available open access. “” sets out to reassess the meaning of the democratic socialist experience of Salvador Allende. that she co-wrote with Marian Schlotterbeck (UC Davis) and Joshua Frens-String (University of Texas, Austin). And have a look at the article she contributed, “”.
Post Wall, Post Square released in Chile
Read Professor Kristina Spohr's interview about the in the Chilean newspaper , and the review of the same book in the digital newspaper (26 May).
Dr Taylor C. Sherman on "Women, State Feminism and Indian Socialism in the Nehru Years"
In her latest article for South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, Dr Sherman argues that in the Central Social Welfare Board, state feminism was concerned with the gradual transformation of women and a radical, if short-lived, makeover of the state.
How Soviet icons sell space
杏吧论坛 Teaching Fellow Dr Tom Ellis has published a new piece on the Verso Books Blog. The piece looks at how companies like Virgin Galactic have used historical characters from the Cold War space race to market space tourism as a deeply meaningful transcendental experience rather than an extravagant getaway for the super-rich.
Professor David Stevenson's advice on how to be an expert
Professor Stevenson contributed to a Daily Mail article on “How to Be an Instant Expert” (21 May). Apparently, clever people can fake complex knowledge – he offered a potted guide to one of the subjects we all wish we understood better: the origins of the First World War. His advice: make sure you DON’T ask, “where did Hitler come into it?”.
Dr Anna Cant's new book
Land without Masters: Agrarian Reform and Political Change under Peru’s Military Government is out now with University of Texas Press. Dr Cant's first manuscript offers a fresh perspective on the way the Peruvian government’s major 1969 agrarian reforms transformed the social, cultural, and political landscape of the country.
Dr Artemis Photiadou on detention of non-enemy civilians during WW2
PhD alumna and Guest Teacher Dr Photiadou’s new article in The Historical Journal focuses on the thousands of civilians from Allied and neutral countries who reached Britain during the Second World War. Nearly all who arrived between 1941 and 1945 were detained for interrogation – an unprecedented course of action by Britain which has been seldom studied. .
Professor Kristina Spohr on Angela Merkel's power
"She has ruled with dedication, deep moral conviction, and integrity. And above all, in the era of Putin, Trump, Johnson and Orbán, she has personified power without vanity." Read Professor Spohr's op-ed in the Spanish newspaper El País (14 May), "" (in Spanish).
Visiting Fellow Dr Victoria Phillips winner of 2021 杏吧论坛SU Teaching Award for Innovative Teaching
, which this year received almost 2,000 nominations, is designed to allow students to recognise those members of staff who have made a difference to their time at 杏吧论坛 and say thank you to staff members who have made a positive impact. Dr Phillips was recognised for going beyond the traditional model and methods of teaching delivery, for bringing cutting edge research to her teaching, for providing different and exciting perspectives on the curriculum or subject, for effectively incorporating technology and multi-media resources into her teaching practices, and for including innovative assessment options. .
New book by Professor Steven Casey
The hardcopy of Professor Casey’s new book was released in the United States earlier this month. The book covers the history of American war reporting in the Pacific theater of World War II, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Read the review published in the (19 May) and other reviews in the . The hardcopy will be released in the UK in September.
Professor Kristina Spohr interviewed for Spanish newspaper ABC
She spoke to them about her book (HarperCollins, 2020), published in Spanish by , and the peaceful nature of the transformations of 1989. Using previously unknown sources, the interviewer claims she wrote with such a detail and journalistic pulse that it was like Dr Spohr had been a direct witness of the complex negotiations herself. .
Congratulations to Visiting Research Fellow Dr Marina Pérez de Arcos
Winner of the Bulletin of Spanish Studies' for her 2-part research articles on "Education, Intelligence and Cultural Diplomacy at the British Council in Madrid, 1940–1941". The prize is awarded annually to "the author of the article, on any subject within the field of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, which is judged by a panel of peer assessors to be the most original, accomplished and important study recently published or accepted for publication in the Bulletin of Spanish Studies or the Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies". The editor congratulated Dr Pérez de Arcos on a "wonderfully insightful and intellectually rigorous study". Read the articles and .
PhD Candidate Katherine Arnold on the Hardcore Humanities podcast
Katherine discusses the unification of Germany, German colonialism, and her work on the colonial and Cairo exhibits at the 1896 Berlin Trade Exhibition. Listen to the episode on and .
杏吧论坛 alumna Dr Marianna Griffini nominated Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
This was in recognition of her studies on postcolonial legacies in populism. She told us her time as a student in our BSc IR and History (2013) and MSc Empires, Colonialism and Globalisation (2014) programmes was key in identifying and expanding her research interests. .
Dr David Motadel on the anti-vaccination movement
. Dr Motadel argues that, historically, although attempts to delegitimise vaccines have posed a serious threat to human health, in the long run, anti-vaccination movements have never succeeded in stopping rollouts.
Professor Marc David Baer Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program visiting speaker at Northwestern University
He spoke on his book (Indiana University Press, 2020) which sets out to tell a new history that goes against Turkish antisemitism and admits to the Armenian genocide by looking at the complexities of interreligious relations, Holocaust denial, genocide and ethnic cleansing, and confronting some long-standing historical stereotypes.
Read the latest from Dr Gagan D. S. Sood
Recently named a co-editor of the Journal of Global History, Dr Sood's co-authored piece, ‘Editors’ Note – Global History after the Great Divergence’ introduces the new issue under new editorship. The note contains an important statement, particularly about global history as a field and the role of the journal within it. The Journal of Global History publishes high-quality articles which circulate very widely, a good proportion of which make a meaningful contribution to the historiography.
Professor Hartley's new publication
We’re excited to announce that Emeritus Professor Janet Harley has a new volume out. Co-edited with Dr Dennis Shaw (Birmingham), Magic, Texts and Travel: Homage to a Scholar, Will Ryan (Study Group for Eighteenth-Century Russia, 2021) focuses on the three themes of magic, text, and travel in relation to Russia and other Slavonic regions.
Dr Tom Ellis on Gagarin's spaceflight
Our 杏吧论坛 Fellow was interviewed alongside some other space historians for a BBC Radio 4 documentary “Gagarin and the Lost Moon” (10 April) ahead of the 60th anniversary of Gagarin’s spaceflight last week. He discussed Gagarin’s significance as a propaganda figure and the role his flight played in the Cold War. . On 12 April, he was also interviewed by BBC Future for an article on Gagarin as an embodiment of “soft power”, discussing Gagarin’s image as both a propaganda hero in the USSR and as a charismatic spokesman for communism abroad.
More positive reviews for The Volga
Emeritus Professor Janet Hartley’s book (Yale University Press, 2021) continues to receive positive reviews. The book explores the history of Russia through the Volga from the seventh century to the present day. Read the latest reviews in (March), (April) and (April). Professor Hartley was also interviewed about the book in the Asian Review Podcast in collaboration with New Books Network. .
PhD Candidate wins prize
Charlotte Eaton was recently awarded the Harold Blakemore Prize for an essay submitted on Colombian foreign policy and the Spanish Civil War. The prize is awarded by the Society for Latin American Studies to the best essay submitted each year by a postgraduate student in Latin American Studies based at a UK institution.
New article in Responsible Statecraft by PhD students Grant Golub (pictured) and Jeff Hawn
Sanctions have grown as a favored tool of American policymakers seeking to cheaply and quickly punish disagreeable international behavior. Golub and Hawn offer a look at US sanctions in historical perspective to discuss how Biden’s latest financial sanctions on Myanmar are unlikely to accomplish much and may in fact harm US global interests.
New article by Dr David Motadel
Written with Professor Richard Drayton (KCL), and published in the British Journal of Sociology journal as part of the special issue "Debating Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology", the article argues that since the rise of a "scientific" historiography in the nineteenth century, the role of ideas in history versus that of material forces has been a key philosophical problem. They read Piketty’s book (2019) as a work of global history, which offers a provocative rehearsal of this question. and .
New book by Dr Tanya Harmer
Dr Harmer released a new co-edited volume Toward a Global History of Latin America’s Revolutionary Left with Professor Alberto Martín Álvarez (Universitat de Girona). The volume showcases new research on the global reach of Latin American revolutionary movements during the height of the Cold War.
Dr Ron C. Po guest commentator in Professor Wang Gungwu's event
On 16 April, Dr Po was the commentator for the event “A Conversation with Wang Gungwu”, organised by the 杏吧论坛 China Forum and the Washington University in St. Louis China Forum. One of the most eminent historians in the field of Chinese Studies, Professor Wang Gungwu was awarded the Tang Prize in Sinology in 2020.
New piece in the Newslines Institute for Strategy and Policy by PhD student Jeff Hawn
Russia cannot compete with other global powers militarily, but it can serve as a chronic disruptor of their interests. He argues that Moscow’s strategy is not to dominate its opponents, rather to keep them off balance by applying diplomatic, economic, military, and political pressure.
Dr David Motadel's new advisory position
He has joined the Advisory Board of the Hans Blix’s Centre for the History of International Relations at Stockholm University. The board consists of internationally renowned researchers and aims to contribute to the centre’s development and establishment in the international research landscape.
杏吧论坛 South East Asia Centre’s Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
Congratulations to our International History students for winning a dissertation grant. Joshua Tham is writing on “Counter-Communist Efforts by the Catholic Church in Post-War Singapore, 1948-70” under the supervision of Dr Kirsten E. Schulze and to Marcus Chee (pictured) is writing on “British Colonial Gaze in the Malaya Command, 1939-1942” supervised by Dr David Motadel.
PhD Candidate discusses her research on podcast
Charlotte Eaton analysed how the Spanish Civil War had political and social consequences in the United States, Mexico and South America in a recent episode of the podcast. .
Dr Anna Cant on radio education in the Andes during the second half of the 20th Century
Dr Cant has a new article out in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History. The article discusses the hundreds of small radio initiatives that emerged over the course of the 1960s and 1970s across the Andes. Amid widespread illiteracy, entrenched poverty, and a mountainous terrain that limited access to state institutions and the mainstream media, radio was seen as a technology of immense promise that could increase education levels and stimulate development, leading to primarily Catholic-led radio schools.
New book release
Revolutionary World: Global Upheaval in the Modern Age (Cambridge University Press), edited by Dr David Motadel, shows that the major revolutions of the modern age, which have so often been studied as isolated national or imperial events, were almost never contained within state borders and were usually part of broader revolutionary movements.
Staff news
The Department is delighted to announce that from September 2021 its new specialist on US history will be Dr Elizabeth Ingleson. Dr Ingleson, who joins us from Yale where she has been a Henry Chauncey Jr ’57 Postdoctoral Associate, is a specialist on US-China relations. We’re greatly looking forward to all that she will bring to the department.
Golub on North Korea
Read the latest from PhD student Grant Golub in Responsible Statecraft, "" (12 March). The conundrums American policymakers faced over Chinese nuclear proliferation during the early 1960s hold important lessons for addressing North Korea today. Rather than focusing on the unrealistic possibility of full denuclearization, Washington should work with its local partners to foster a more peaceful environment in East Asia.
Dr Alvandi on Professor Gasiorowski's work
Dr Roham Alvandi participated in an event honouring Professor Mark Gasiorowski’s lifetime work on 10 March. Organised by the National Security Archive at the George Washington University, the panelists discussed some highlights of his academic career on the CIA and the covert history of US-Iran relations. . .
Dr Lewis talks to TIME
Dr Joanna Lewis recently talked with TIME Magazine about the Monarchy’s troubled relationship with race in the aftermath of Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah (10 March). She commented, “if we look to history, we can see how the royals have a complex relationship with people of color, because throughout the last decades, it’s visits to the Commonwealth where the monarchy has felt most popular, and most loved”. .
2021 QS World University Rankings by Subject
In the latest rankings, 杏吧论坛 History continued to be placed 5th in the world for the second year running, ahead of Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley and Princeton. In the UK and in Europe, History at 杏吧论坛 held its third place, behind Cambridge and Oxford.
Molly Avery on Pinochet and El Salvador
PhD student Molly Avery was interviewed on the Historias Podcast of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (SECOLAS). She discussed her recent article and ongoing PhD research on the international and transnational anticommunist networks during the Cold War in Latin America.
PhD student William Mitchell publishes in Church History and Religious Culture journal
Recent scholarship has highlighted the religious dimensions of political argument in William III’s England. The article, "The Primitive Church Revived. The Apostolic Age in the Propaganda of William III", adds to this trend through a political analysis of pieces on the Apostolic Age that were written, re-printed, or cited, in the reign of William III.
Dr Ellis on the space race in the 1960s
杏吧论坛 Fellow Dr Tom Ellis was interviewed for the BBC History Extra podcast series “Everything You Wanted to Know” on 21 February. He responded to listener questions on the great Cold War rivalry that saw the US and the Soviet Union battle for dominance in space in the 1960s.
Professor Spohr on the lessons of the end of the Cold War
Catch up with the latest opinion piece from Professor Kristina Spohr in Spanish-language newspaper “El País". The fall of the Berlin Wall and the crackdown on the Tiananmen protests marked an epochal change, but she argues that the new order that emerged now seems exhausted in face of the climate and pandemic crises we are facing. (14 February). (in Spanish).
Dr Harder on India's seat at the UN Security Council and Indo-Chinese dicplomacy
杏吧论坛 Fellow Dr Anton Harder recently recorded a podcast with an Indian series titled “States of Anarchy”. His episode, “A Seat at the High Table”, discusses some of the history around India’s claim to a seat on the United Nations Security Council and Indian diplomacy in the 1950s, particularly toward China. Available on any podcast app.
Dr Richards co-winner of the Prince Consort & Thirlwall Prize and Seeley Medal
The Prize has been awarded by the Faculty of History at Cambridge University since 1904 for the best doctoral dissertations. Dr Jake Subryan Richards submitted his PhD thesis at Cambridge in 2020 on how abolition laws shaped the opportunities and limitations for "liberated Africans" in the nineteenth-century Atlantic world. He joined us as Assistant Professor last September.
New publication by PhD Student and GTA Rishka Yadav
Rishika has contributed a chapter on non-white South African soldiers interned in Europe during the Second World War to a new volume (African Sun Media, 2021).
PhD Student Jeff Hawn on Russian current affairs
Read Jeff's opinion articles in Foreign Policy, "" (25 January) and "" (10 February).
Life behind the lines during the Great War
Check out the new article published in The Historical Journal by PhD Alumnus and Guest Teacher , "British Expeditionary Force vegetable shows, allotment culture, and life behing the lines during the Great War". As part of a programme encouraging the cultivation of unused land around camps in Le Havre, members of the British Expeditionary Force participated in a vegetable competition, offering a new perspective on the experience of the Great War.
New book by Visiting Research Fellow Dr Leonardo Davoudi
(Bloomsbury) charts the development of Persian petroleum from uncertain beginnings to becoming one of Britain’s largest oil companies. Want a discount? Use the code PETROL30 at checkout.
The Volga River and Russian History
Emeritus Professor Janet Hartley’s new book with Yale University Press, The Volga. A History of Russia's Greatest River is out now. The Volga River has played a crucial role in the history of the peoples who are now a part of the Russian Federation – and has united and divided the land through which it flows. Professor Hartley explores the history of Russia through the Volga from the seventh century to the present day. . Read the reviews in (31 December 2020, "15 livres à lire en janvier 2021"), (16 January), (February, "Book of the Month"), (20 January) and the (11 February).
The book launch took place on 9 February and was hosted by the Higher School of Economics (Moscow).
British and India relations
PhD Student and Graduate Teaching Assistant Tom Wilkinson has written an article for “The Spectator” magazine (26 January). He argues that Britain’s departure from the EU presents an exciting opportunity to build on old alliances around the world, and nowhere is this more true than in the UK’s relationship with India.
Después del Muro by Professor Kristina Spohr
21 January, Professor Spohr discussed her latest book (Yale University Press, 2020) with the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Recently published in , the book offers a bold new interpretation of the revolutions of 1989, showing how a new world order was forged – without major conflict. (). Read the book reviews from Spanish-language newspapers, (29 January), (7 February), and (12 February), which called it "a monumental and brilliant book using unpublished sources"
New edited book by Professor Kristina Spohr
With (editor, Wilson Center) and (associate editor, Wilson Center), (Brookings Institution Press) explores the huge political, legal, social, economic, geostrategic and environmental challenges confronting the Arctic regime, and what this means for the future of world order. , which took place on 12 January in Washington DC at the Wilson Center.
Dr Ronald C. Po awarded the Young Scholar Visiting Fellowship
The Fellowship is jointly offered by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Chaing Ching-Kuo Foundation in Taiwan. The fellowship will support Dr Po's residence at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Chinese Studies and the as a Visiting Scholar during the 2021/22 academic year.