2017 Committee Nominations

My association with HOTCUS is as old as the organization itself. I was one of its founder members, and can even claim credit (if that is the term) for coming up with the organization’s name and acronym; I served for four years as committee secretary, as HOTCUS developed its profile and regular calendar of activities. I would be delighted to return to the committee to carry on the excellent work of Jon Bell and his team.

HOTCUS is now well-established. As chair, I would aim to develop further its valuable service function – in terms of networking, intellectual exchange and funding – for UK graduate researchers; ensure that Brexit does not disrupt the expansion of the organization’s connections with Americanist colleagues in continental Europe and the US; and build the reputation of the organization and its membership as a treasury of expertise available to all who wish to understand the modern United States.

In seeking re-election for the position of Vice-Chair, I am expressing my deep commitment to further strengthening the group’s standing as the primary organisation for twentieth century US historians. Its emphasis upon cultivating links with academics in Europe and beyond is crucial to HOTCUS; if elected, I will strive to assist in the development of this work. I believe that the yearly conferences and research symposia are an invaluable aspect of the HOTCUS agenda, and we should continue to build upon these as venues for sharing research developments and establishing collaborations. Finally, I believe that the group has a duty to support the development of new generations of British Americanists, and we should seek to extend that support wherever possible.

If I am elected to the position of Committee Secretary, I will continue to bring all of my motivation and energy to the role, and it would be a privilege to serve the HOTCUS community for another year.

I have served as HOTCUS Membership Secretary for the past year. In this time I have launched successful recruitment drive amongst lapsed members, designed a new e-newsletter template for HOTCUS member mailings, and continued my predecessor Emma Long’s record of prompt and clear mailings and correspondence with new, lapsed and existing members. In the next year I will be organising the 2018 HOTCUS winter symposium at the University of Nottingham, and continuing in my committee role will enable me to coordinate the event efficiently and make it a success for HOTCUS members.

I am organised, meticulous individual who is a clear and prompt communicator and who has delivered a high quality of service during my year as Membership Secretary. I have extensive experience of committee work having served on the steering committee for the East Midlands Centre for History Teaching & Learning (EMC), an advocacy group designed to develop excellence in history teaching in HE, the teaching committee and sub-committee on curriculum reform within my department, and University of Nottingham’s faculty forum on widening participation.

Having been a member of HOTCUS for several years, I believe that the organisation has developed into an excellent forum for research into American history. As a postgraduate secretary, I would like to see HOTCUS continue to expand its network of students. I believe that increased communication to postgraduate students about HOTCUS, and engagement in promoting the postgraduate conference, particularly outside of the UK, could strengthen this network of early scholars. I also believe that increased use of social media could be a useful forum for increasing engagement with postgraduates. Furthermore, I would seek to focus on developing links between postgraduates and senior HOTCUS members, to provide a better support network for students which would include increasing skills sessions at the postgraduate conference, and supporting postgraduates as they make the transition into ECRs. Finally, I would l like to continue to strengthen ties with other bodies such as BAAS and APG, through postgraduate panel submissions to conferences, which would provide excellent networking opportunities and experience for those seeking to enter the academic job market.

Firstly, I will continue to develop and expand the excellent interaction between PGs, ECRs and established academics which HOTCUS offers. I will establish a reading group, meeting twice a year at different universities, to discuss contemporary and important interventions in the field, as well as offering work-in-progress discussion around a pre-circulated piece by a postgraduate member. This shared forum will permit continued interaction amongst the HOTCUS community whilst offering a productive space for postgraduates to develop their ideas with established academics beyond their supervisory teams.

Secondly, I will develop the excellent career focused sessions which have been introduced as part of the HOTCUS PG conference. As postgraduate career choices diversify, I will expand the focus of these sessions to include contributions from non-traditional academic careers and post-doctoral programmes, as well as insights from those experienced in sitting on university interview panels.

As a former recipient of HOTCUS funding, I benefited greatly from the advice I received on the application from a past recipient. Understanding how valuable shared knowledge of applications can be, I will establish a network for those applying for different schemes to connect and discuss ideas with members who have been successful in the past. This knowledge exchange will be strengthened by inviting other associations, such as BAAS, to participate also.

I feel I am well suited to the role of Postgraduate Secretary. This academic year, I chaired the UCL Americas Research Network, a hub that promotes postgraduate scholarship on the Americas. In this capacity, I have organised a number of events including a postgraduate conference, funded by grants from UCL, at which over fifty presenters from around the world participated. The experience of running a large event of this kind has left me well placed both to promote a HOTCUS Postgraduate conference at UCL and to apply for funding from UCL and elsewhere to assist postgraduate attendance.

More broadly, I will build on the work of previous Postgraduate Secretaries, especially through regular engagement with members, and by organising roundtable teaching discussions at HOTCUS events. I will also provide space at HOTCUS events to discuss how postgraduates can transition into academia and am keen to increase the visibility of HOTCUS to postgraduates outside the UK by collaborating with other US-based networks and institutions.

In addition to the above, I am secure in the knowledge that my current position as treasurer of the American Politics Group (an affiliate of the Political Studies Association) offers potential inter-disciplinary opportunities. These prospects would be beneficial not just to postgraduates within both organisations, but also to both scholarly bodies.

Finally, my experience as vice chair of a primary school governing body illustrates my ability to effectively work at executive and committee level. As part of the postgraduate secretary’s responsibility is to organise the annual PG conference during the final year, my familiarity with being involved in the organisation of three conferences would stand me in good stead.