Remembering Sandra Trudgen Dawson
"Every time we spoke, I was struck by both her depth and breadth of knowledge, by her strong sense of justice and fairness, and by her selflessness and willingness to give her time to others."
Mark J Crowley
Dec 12
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Broadsides
The Latest from Broadsides
Researching the History of the Southern Conference on British Studies
"Attempting to fulfill the request of the NACBS to write this brief history of the SCBS has helped to preserve that history."
Charles Upchurch
Oct 15
In Remembrance of Lois Green Schwoerer (June 4, 1927 – August 10, 2025)
"...Lois was simply a great mentor to all.”
Tim Harris
Sep 26
The MWCBS at 71: 1954-2025
"So, when the leaves start to take on their bright fall colors across the Midwest and the late afternoons begin fading into darkness, it feels like MWCBS season—and hopefully will for many years to come."
Jennifer McNabb
Sep 16
A Real Shame
"I did pause to wonder whose voice was this; to question the powerful feeling that she—the maidservant—just arrived, and took over my pen."
Carolyn Steedman
Sep 5
Broadsides Series
Pride Month 2025
Banning Books is Stupid, So Keep Writing
"Knowing that he would likely be silenced, he wrote anyway."
Averill Earls
Jun 25
“A Special Law Just for Us:” Negotiating Gender Recognition in Postwar Britain
"Harford’s call for a “special law”—a neat statutory solution to the problem of his dual identities—highlights the fact that bureaucratic gender recognition in 1950s Britain was far from straightforward."
Adrian Kane-Galbraith
Jun 23
“Not totally gay, I suppose”: Bisexuality and Multiple-Gender-Attraction in the Archives
“The instability and fragility of bisexuality as an identity category in this period means that limiting my analysis only to people who used the term for themselves would be unhelpfully restrictive.”
Martha Robinson Rhodes
Jun 20
Hyacinth at the End of the World: Queering William Burges, Eschatology, and Cardiff Castle
"Although orientated around the end of the world, the designs in the room suggest that after la petit morte, or the end of times, viewers will be sublimated to a divinely queer and beautiful afterlife. "
British Studies Outside the Anglophone Academy
Teaching Incidental British History around the Globe
"The global reach of the British empire, which touched and transformed societies across continents, also creates natural resonance in sometimes unexpected ways. "
Jessica Hanser
May 8
Teaching Black London in Pandemic Paris
"I have learnt that keeping the political stakes of Black Britishness at the fore requires constant vigilance."
Laura Carter
May 6
The Prospects for British Imperial History: The View from Macau
"Rather, the view from Macau prompts a reassessment of the prospects for British imperial history; it raises different questions from those currently dominant in the field."
Joshua Ehrlich
May 1
Addressing the Inequality of Languages: a proposal for teaching and writing British History from Latin America
“But to truly disrupt the inequality of languages, we need to do more than just artfully consider how to incorporate British imperial history into courses in the Spanish-speaking world. We should also consider how to let ideas, studies, literatures and experiences outside the Anglosphere impact how we write about British history itself.”
Laura Tavolacci
Apr 29
Britain and the US Presidency
Washington, US Revolution, and the British Atlantic
"Of all the American Presidents, George Washington was perhaps best known to the British at the time of his inauguration. "
Troy Bickham
Jan 24
In the Graveyard of Empires: The United States, Britain and the Afghan War
"It remains, as it has been for over 150 years, the graveyard of empires."
Sarah Burns
Jan 22
Public Utterances and Private Thoughts: A Perspective on the Eisenhower and Churchill Relationship
For Churchill and Eisenhower, private opinions differ from public perceptions.
Justin Olmstead
Jan 20
London & the Making of Herbert Hoover
What began for Hoover as a British imperial career and a life in London finance circles eventually took him to the White House...
Tammy Proctor
Jan 17
British Studies: State of the Field
A Way Forward: Look Local
"This is a call to work locally and from the bottom-up ..."
Priya Satia
Feb 16, 2024
A Teachable Moment?
“Any effective strategy to nurture and grow our field is dependent on being transparent with our students…”
Catherine Chou
Feb 13, 2024
British History, Once and Future
"More than a quarter of a century of gnashing of teeth has accompanied the decline of British history in American higher education."
David Cressy
Feb 9, 2024
British History in Canada: No Jobs, No Field
Ted McCormick outlines the state of British Studies in Canada.
Ted McCormick
Feb 6, 2024
Historiography of Ireland/Northern Ireland Series
"The Irish do not live in the past rather Ireland’s history lives in the present"
"One cannot deny that the maintaining of “peace” after conflict has not been a straightforward or linear process."
Laura McAtackney
Nov 3, 2023
Why the Inertia? Situated Knowledge and Action in Northern Ireland
I enter this discussion with some caution. My interests lie in the broad field of ethnicity, boundaries and identity, my research on the...
Jennifer Todd
Oct 31, 2023
The Start of the Troubles and Real Politics
In this piece, Simon Prince reflects on his article “Against Ethnicity” and how his work emphasizes a short time span and contingency.
Simon Prince
Oct 25, 2023
Consensus and Debate: Walking the 'New' Northern Ireland
"Walking as methodology can add weight and texture to historical study."
Elizabeth DeYoung
Oct 20, 2023
Our digital publication
Broadsides is the official blog for the North American Conference on British Studies. This digital forum offers an accessible, communal space to host scholarly discussion of interest to our membership. You can read more about this NACBS initiative here.
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Banning Books is Stupid, So Keep Writing
"Knowing that he would likely be silenced, he wrote anyway."
Averill Earls
Jun 25
“A Special Law Just for Us:” Negotiating Gender Recognition in Postwar Britain
"Harford’s call for a “special law”—a neat statutory solution to the problem of his dual identities—highlights the fact that bureaucratic gender recognition in 1950s Britain was far from straightforward."
Adrian Kane-Galbraith
Jun 23
“Not totally gay, I suppose”: Bisexuality and Multiple-Gender-Attraction in the Archives
“The instability and fragility of bisexuality as an identity category in this period means that limiting my analysis only to people who used the term for themselves would be unhelpfully restrictive.”
Martha Robinson Rhodes
Jun 20
Hyacinth at the End of the World: Queering William Burges, Eschatology, and Cardiff Castle
"Although orientated around the end of the world, the designs in the room suggest that after la petit morte, or the end of times, viewers will be sublimated to a divinely queer and beautiful afterlife. "
Princess Seraphina: Queer Visibility at the Old Bailey
"In 2025, when queer and trans people face a new wave of public scrutiny, legal surveillance, and violent erasure, Princess Seraphina’s story challenges the notion that queer lives were always hidden, always punished, and always alone."
Scott Terlouw
Jun 16
Pride and Its Paradoxes: Settler Queer History and Indigenous Calls for Truth-Telling
"The way forward, then, can only be through an honesty that challenges us to look back and tell a more robust and complicated truth."
Jacobin Bosman
Jun 11
Urnings, in Ireland and Illinois
"It is only by searching far and wide, and stitching many queer fragments back together, that we can create new and often hopeful tapestries of local queer life."
Tom Hulme
Jun 9
Queer and Trans Histories in an Urgent Present
"The essays in this series, then, are shaped by, and respond to, this broader political moment in which queer and trans lives are under increasing threat both rhetorically and institutionally."
Jarett Henderson
Jun 4
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Editorial Team
Catherine Chou
Nominating Committee
Grinnell College
Jessica Hanser
Nominating Committee
University of British Columbia
Michelle D. Brock
Chair, Program Committee
Washington and Lee University
Amanda Perry
Digital Media Director
NACBS
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