As a cultural and social historian of late twentieth century Britain I am primarily interested in the many and varied ways in which the end of the British Empire has impacted on British identity. I joined the University of Portsmouth in 2010 and have previously taught at a number of institutions in the north of England and Canada.

My research focuses on the cultural and social impacts of the end of the British Empire. In particular, I am interested in the ways in which British national identity has been re-imagined by some people as multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-ethnic in the postwar period while others have resisted this transformation. In particular this has led me to think about racism and anti-racism in British society and culture. My doctoral work focussed on social movements and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the 1960s including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), the National Union of Students (NUS) and groups within the Northern Irish Civil Rights Movement, exploring how they were reconceptualising Britishness at the end of empire.

My current research focus is on international students in the UK between the 1960s and 1990s. My book, International Students in Post-Imperial Britain: Experiences of Activism, Community, and Racialisation, c.1960-1990, is under contract with Manchester University Press.

I am working with colleages in London and Swansea on a project which explores the methodological and theoretical implications of writing histories of students. We organised a series of workshops to commemorate the 100th anniversay of the National Union of Students (NUS) in 2022 and have a journal special edition forthcoming. I am particularly interested in the methodological and ethical uses of the student press, and have created a website to help researchers find digitised versions of English-language student newspapers which is accessible here. 

Research clusters

• Social and Cultural History
• Education, Social Justice and Transformation
• The Heritage Hub

British history in the late twentieth century

Histories of students

History of activism

Histories of race, anti-racism and racialisation

I currently teach across a number of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. 

At the undergraduate level, I coordinate and teach the first year 'Societies, Nations and Empires, c.1750-2000'. This module introduces students to a range of events and issues between the mid-eighteenth and twenty-first centuries including the enlightenment, industrial revolution, nationalism, 'scientific' racism, empire, decolonisation, suffrage and second wave feminism, the Cold War and many other topics. This is a core module for the BA (Hons) History and BA (Hons) History & Politics courses.

I am also the module coordinator and teach the second year module 'Empire and its Afterlives in Britain, Europe and Africa'. This module examines the nature of colonialism in Africa between the late nineteeth and twentieth centuries and explores the ways in which empire and colonialism continue to shape the world around us. This module is offered to students throughout the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science including the BA (Hons) Applied Languages, BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies, BA (Hons) English Language and Linguistics, BA (Hons) English Literature, BA (Hons) History, BA(Hons) History and Politics, BA (Hons) International Development, BA (hons) International Relations, BA (Hons) Language Studies, BA (Hons) Politics, BA (Hons) Crimilology and Criminal Justice, BA (Hons) Sociology, and several others. 

I have also designed, written, and taught the core modules 'Revolutions and Activism: History and Politics' and 'Changing the World' for the BA (Hons) History and Politics; and a specialist option on 'Racism and Anti-racism in postwar Britain for the BA (Hons) History and BA (Hons) History & Politics courses. I also contribute to a number of team-taught modules and supervise undergraduate dissertations on a range of topics related to late twentieth and twenty-first century history in Britain, Europe and Africa.

At the Postgraduate level, I teach on the 'Research Preparation and Development' module for students undertaking the Humanities and Social Science Masters by Research programme. I also supervise MRes students and students undertaking PhD research.