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Biography
I am a historian of feminism and imperialism, specialising in Ireland. My work examines how feminism and socialism interacted with imperialism in Ireland and investigates how this impacted attempts at solidarity between British and Irish women.
I finished my PhD thesis at the University of Warwick in 2022. The thesis, entitled, 'British Feminists in Ireland: Internationalist Solidarity or Imperial 'Sisterhood'? 1900-1921' examined the participation of British feminist socialists in the Irish socio-political movements in the first two decades of the twentieth century. This project was funded by the Wolfson Foundation and supervised by Dr Laura Schwartz.
I achieved a Masters in Research (MRes) in 2018 from the University of the West of England (UWE).
I completed my BA (Hons) History in 2017 from the University of the West of England (UWE).
Expertise Summary
My research specialisms include:
- The British and Irish suffrage movement
- The British and Irish trade union movements in the early twentieth century
- The interwar women's internationalist movement and pacifism
- Early feminism
- Internationalist socialism of the early twentieth century
- British imperialism in Ireland
Teaching Summary
I have previously taught on a range of modules at the University of Warwick:
- Making of the Modern World
- Farewell to Arms? War in Modern European History
- Race, Ethnicity, and Migration in Modern Britain
- History of Russia Since 1881
From 2022-2023, I taught at the University of the West of England (UWE) on the following modules:
- History in Practice
- British History from the Black Death to the Peterloo Massacre
- Sex and the Social Order: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Britain
- Modern British History
- Crime and the Courts
At Nottingham, in the academic year 2023-2024, I am convening the module: 'Villains or Victims? White Women and the British Empire, c. 1840-1980' HIST2051 UNUK.
I will also be teaching on the following modules:
- Roads to Modernity: An Introduction to Modern History 1750-1945
- Learning History
Research Summary
I am currently working on an article, 'Why, it's like Belgium!': The Women's International League in the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921. This article will demonstrate how the Women's… read more
Current Research
I am currently working on an article, 'Why, it's like Belgium!': The Women's International League in the Irish War of Independence 1919-1921. This article will demonstrate how the Women's International League (WIL) combined both imperial feminism and liberal internationalism when supporting the cause of Irish independence. The 'small nations' rhetoric that had emerged during the First World War was appropriated by British feminists to divorce the atrocities of the Black and Tans from the wider colonial experience of oppression. Comparing the occupation of Ireland in 1919-1921 to that of Belgium during the First World War enabled British internationalist-feminists to support the sovereignty of Ireland's nationhood, without necessarily having to engage with the colonial dimension or history of the conflict.
Past Research
My doctoral thesis examined the participation of British feminist socialists in the Irish socio-political movements in the first two decades of the 20th century. It investigated the extent to which British feminists' intervention in the Irish feminist, labour, and pacifist movements was motivated by maternalistic imperialism. I asked, to what extent was the participation of British women in Irish affairs motivated by a maternalistic imperialism that prioritised British women's enfranchisement over Irish women's aims? Was socialist women's commitment to internationalist class struggle protection against or complicit with imperialist power dynamics? How did feminists traverse the colonial borders they operated within to further internationalist solidarity?
Future Research
My next project will look at Indian, Egyptian, and Irish anti-colonial politics in Britain and Ireland between the years 1900-1939 to consider the extent to which Indian, Egyptian, and Irish students, trade unionists, and women's rights activists supported one another in the varying demands for national freedom. I ask, how strong was anti-colonial activism in Britain's Indian, Irish, and Egyptian diasporic communities? Did support for nationalist movements translate to a wider anti-colonial politics that transcended racial and ethnic differences and prejudices? To what extent did political alliances formed by grassroots groups and individuals in Britain influence the nationalist struggles of colonial nations?