Committee Elections

Sister Louisa’s Church at Edgewood and Boulevard in downtown Atlanta before the unveiling of Fabian William’s Stacey Abrams “Vote” mural. 

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Committee Elections

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Each year, the existing members of the HOTCUS steering committee stand down. The vacated positions are then subject to a new nomination and – if necessary, election – process.

The nomination period has now closed, and registered HOTCUS members will receive an email with ballot details. Voting will end in three weeks on Tuesday 23 June 2026 at 23:59 BST. The new committee will be announced to the membership at the Annual Conference HOTCUS AGM in Manchester.

Below are the nomination statements each candidate has submitted to help voters make their choices.

Chair (1-year term) – One candidate standing for election.

Katharina Rietzler (University of Sussex)

HOTCUS provides a much-needed space for historians of the United States, in the UK and further afield. I would like to make HOTCUS an even stronger organisation for all its members, from those at the beginning of their careers to colleagues who have served our profession for many years. Our sector is in turmoil: career opportunities, jobs and livelihoods are under threat. In this crisis, the work of scholarly organisations such as HOTCUS is crucial, going beyond the intrinsic value of our scholarship: we communicate the importance of historical research but also the value of the humanities and critical thinking. We also provide an essential community: supportive, friendly and inclusive.

It would be a great honour to lead HOTCUS to meet the challenges. I am Associate Professor in American History at the University of Sussex where I directed the American Studies programme. I have served on the HOTCUS Executive Committee for the past three years. In my role as Vice Chair, I have supported HOTCUS’s core activities and launched our mentoring scheme in 2024/2025.

My objective as Chair for the next year would be to ensure HOTCUS remains a pillar of stability for our community. This means being able to respond flexibly and pragmatically to scholars requiring support. But I would also build on our collective achievements: our structures for mentorship and financial assistance for research; our communication networks and events; our promotion of scholarly excellence; and our relationships with other organisations in History and American Studies.

Vice-Chair (1-year term) – Two candidates standing for election.

 

Tim Galsworthy (Lincoln Bishop University)

As vice-chair, I would encourage HOTCUS and its Steering Committee to engage constructively with the myriad issues facing the university sector. As a premier academic association, we must take an active interest in the course closures, staff redundancies, casualisation, and employment precarity impacting many HOTCUS members – and academics more generally. As vice-chair, I would consider ways in which HOTCUS can best support its members in this difficult context, both individually and collectively, whatever their career stage. This is a personal and professional mission for me, informed by my own experience.

As vice-chair, I would also work as a booster and willing extra pair of hands for other members of the committee – especially supporting the Chair’s overall direction for HOTCUS, the Events Secretary in organising the annual conference and winter symposium, and the Early Career Secretary in tackling ECR precarity. 

I have extensive past committee experience having previously served on the steering committees of HOTCUS (as Postgraduate Secretary), Pubs and Publications (as Chair), and the Southern Historical Association Gradate Council. While serving as Postgraduate Secretary, I helped organise the first online events HOTCUS held during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am also currently a managing editor of the British Journal for Military History. Therefore, I am adept at balancing committee work with all the other teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities of being an academic. 

HOTCUS has remained a beacon for me through the trials and tribulations of academia. I would like to give something back to the organisation by serving as vice-chair.

Daniel Matlin (Kings College London)

HOTCUS plays a vital role in strengthening U.S. history scholarship and community in the U.K. and beyond, and I would be honoured to contribute to this work in the role of Vice-Chair. I am Reader in the History of the United States of America since 1865 at King’s College London, where I have taught since 2012. Most of my research has been focused on twentieth-century African American thought and culture. My relevant experience includes membership of the editorial board of Journal of American Studies, co-organising the joint BAAS/EAAS conference in 2018 with colleagues across London institutions, and providing work-in-progress feedback through HOTCUS and BAAS publication workshops.

I believe this experience would equip me well to continue the valued HOTCUS Mentoring Scheme initiated by the outgoing Vice-Chair. Advancing institutional and educational equalities has been a central part of my work at King’s, particularly in my departmental roles as Diversity & Inclusion Lead and Inclusive Education Lead over the past four years. I hope to draw on this experience to contribute to HOTCUS’s ongoing efforts to ensure that the organisation and its activities and events embed practices of equity with respect to gender, age, race, sexuality, disability, career stage, and employment status. More generally, I wish to support the Chair and Steering Committee in making HOTCUS’s activities as practically useful and intellectually engaging as they can be for our membership during challenging times, from postgraduate students and precariously employed academic staff to established scholars.

Committee Secretary (1-year term)– One candidate standing for election.

Daniel Rowe (University of Oxford)

HOTCUS is a very important organisation to me, and I have been attending and presenting at its events for more than a decade: as a postgraduate student, as an academic on fixed-term contracts at different institutions, and in my current role as Director of Academic Programmes at Oxford’s Rothermere American Institute and Faculty Associate in History.

Treasurer (1-year term) – One candidate standing for election.

Zoe Hyman (University College London)

In continuing as treasurer at a time of ongoing financial uncertainty, my priorities remain as follows: 

• Ensuring that HOTCUS’s bank balance remains healthy so that we can continue to support the organisation’s conference and outreach activities.
• Budget to ensure that HOTCUS can continue to support PGR, precariously employed, and ECR members of our community to carry out research, disseminate their work, and attend HOTCUS events.
• Support committee and institutional conference organisers with budgeting and strategic planning.
• Expand HOTCUS’s membership and fundraising strategy to help support the HOTCUS community, and grow the organisation’s impact on the US History community in the UK and beyond in the longer-term.
• Finally, in accordance with membership agreement at last year’s AGM, I will oversee moderate membership fee increases to support the continued running of HOTCUS.

Membership Secretary (1-year term) – One candidate standing for election.

Elizabeth Ingleson (University of Cambridge — Starting2026-2027)

Community is at the heart of how I approach ideas and learning. To my mind, both are always stronger when they are developed as part of, and within, communities. I have spent the last 10 years studying and working in multiple countries—Australia, the United States, China, and now the UK—during which time I have only come to believe more in the importance of having shared spares to learn and discuss ideas. It is for this reason I am applying for the position of membership secretary, a role that directly engages with the HOTCUS community. If elected, I will use the position to continue and strengthen the connections within HOTCUS and help welcome new members to the organisation—just as I myself experienced when I first moved to the UK. Through the regular newsletter, I will continue to build a research and learning environment that is welcoming and diverse. As a recent member myself, it would be a pleasure to take on a formal role within HOTCUS and give back to an organisation that has given so much already.

Events Secretary (1-year term) One candidate standing for election.

Bevan Sewell (University of Nottingham)

I’d be delighted to continue in the role of Events Secretary. I’ve very much enjoyed the role this year and it has provided a much-needed refuge from the ceaseless turmoil at my home institution.

As I noted last year, events are a central part of what HOTCUS does and create a shared space in which research, mentorship, intellectual and professional development can all take place in a supportive and collegiate environment. Being involved in organising this year’s annual conference, as well as the winter symposium at the University of Liverpool convened by Cheryl Hudson, has enabled me to get a fuller sense of the role and the numerous opportunities it offers to our community.

Looking ahead, we need to continue using the HOTCUS events to keep providing these moments of community and helping all our members—not least our early career and postgraduate cohort—to navigate a landscape that is increasingly brutal and unpromising. Though we can only do so much to combat this, if we can ensure that the things HOTCUS does are positive points of engagement for our members we can at least ensure that we are having supportive and productive conversations.

As well as leading on HOTCUS’s events in 2026, I have a considerable experience in organising other events—from a major international conference at the University of Nottingham, to smaller workshops and symposia, running the Centre for U.S. in the World Studies at Nottingham, and leading an AHRC-funded research network featuring scholars from the UK and Europe. I also co-edited the Journal of American Studies for four years. 

Early Career Secretary (1-year term) – One candidate standing for election.

Jennifer Chochinov (University of Manchester)

Hello! My name is Jen Chochinov and I am vying to become the next HOTCUS Early Career Secretary. Since I began my postgraduate studies in 2018, I spent two years as the chair of History Lab where I also organise conferences and helped bring the Olivette Otele Paper Prize to life, assisted organising a HOTCUS winter conference, and assisted in fundraising for the 2024 HOTCUS Summer Conference. I am incredibly passionate about creating and nourishing community and looking for ways to create opportunity for one another. As the Early Career Secretary, I would look for ways to build community and support, whether through brainstorming and creating collaborative projects together, connecting scholars with similar interests, encouraging ways for us to bring each other’s work into classrooms, and to find ways to help each other navigate the minefield of non-permanent employment—a position in which I am very familiar with.  

It would bring me immense joy to join the HOTCUS committee and to support ECRs and academics, as well as PGRs and PGR-EC events at HOTCUS, lead sponsorship and fundraising initiatives, and maintain links with similar organisations such as BAAS and to create a closer relationship with History Lab+ and extend our ECR network.

Thank you for your consideration.

Postgraduate Secretary (2-year term) – Two candidates standing for election.

Samuel Houlberg (University College London)

I am a first year PhD student at UCL’s Institute of the Americas, working on the history of international LGBTQ+ organising between the United States and Europe. I am applying to be HOTCUS postgraduate secretary to support community building for postgraduate students working in US history across the country. This has been a key aim of mine in the last year as PhD student representative in my department. In this role, I am particularly proud of organising a postgraduate student conference at the institute. Working with faculty and the master’s student representatives, I have organised a one-day event to encourage sharing research findings, to provide an opportunity to practice presenting, and to build connections between master’s and PhD students in the department.

Between my master’s and PhD, I worked at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP). From that time, I have further experience of event planning and network building, having organised seminar series, roundtables and other events. During my time at CSaP, I developed a particular interest in academic-policy engagement as a way to increase the impact of academic research.

As postgraduate secretary, I want to use this experience to support postgraduate students in pursuing opportunities for public and policy engagement, helping to increase the impact of their work beyond the academy.

Alice Zamai (European University Institute, Florence, Italy)

I am applying to the position of Postgraduate Secretary to lend my efforts to an organisation which, unlike many others, consciously chooses to prioritise Early Career Researchers (ECRs) in its activities. I have been a member of HOTCUS for a little over 6 months, and already I feel like my research has been positively impacted by it. Realities like the HOTCUS Mentoring scheme are allowing me to gain an understanding of the field which I would not otherwise have as a PhD candidate in a university without a chair in US history.

During my tenure as Postgraduate Secretary, I would work to maximize
the outreach of HOTCUS towards other ECRs, especially those working in
Departments with less of a focus in US history. HOTCUS’ uniqueness
resides in its fostering the interaction between senior academics and
those in junior positions: I believe that this reality should be protected,
and that more attention should be brought to it when communicating to
PhD candidates or to those taking the first steps in academia after their
PhD.

Moreover, I would want to act as an amplifier of HOTCUS’ opportunities
in mainland Europe, where I am conducting my research. Despite it being
based in the UK, I believe that much can be gained by ECRs on the outside
in partaking in its activities. I often introduced people in my network to
it over the last few months, always to positive reactions.

Further Information

Descriptions of the responsibilities of each committee position are available below. As well as completing their duties, committee members are expected to participate in 4 committee meetings per year over Zoom, and to help judge the annual HOTCUS prizes and other awards.

HOTCUS is dedicated to fostering a culture of inclusion and equality in our organizational structure. We seek to develop an intellectual and organizational environment built on the premise of equity in terms of gender, age, race, sexuality, disability, career stage, and employment status.

If you have any questions about the nomination and election process, please contact Daniel Rowe at daniel.rowe@rai.ox.ac.uk.

Description of HOTCUS Committee Roles 

Chair 

• • Chair meetings of the HOTCUS Committee 

• • Represent HOTCUS in the broader academic community and act as a link with associated organizations in History, American Studies, Politics, among others 

• • Define and realise strategic goals 

• • Help raise the profile of HOTCUS in the international community of U.S. historians and play a role in enhancing membership 

• • Produce annual report to AGM 

• • Planning for all HOTCUS events (in collaboration with Events Secretary), including arrangements for the plenary speaker and chairing the lecture at the annual conference 

Vice Chair 

• • Act as Chair pro tempore of Committee meetings as required 

• • Lead Mentorship scheme 

• • Promote and deliver EDI in all HOTCUS activities 

• • Ensure a voice for the alt-academic community (in collaboration with EC Secretary) 

• • Support Chair in representing HOTCUS in broader academic community 

Committee Secretary 

• • Arrange Committee meetings and keep minutes 

• • Monitor the planning calendar to ensure committee work and tasks are completed in a timely fashion 

• • Serve as HOTCUS webmaster 

• • Manage social media accounts, ensuring consistency of comms (in collaboration with Membership Secretary) 

• • Organise Committee elections 

Treasurer  

• • Prepare budgets and provide advice on the financial implications of HOTCUS activities and strategic planning 

• • Manage HOTCUS banking and financial accounts 

• • Process membership payments and fees (in collaboration with Membership Secretary) 

• • Advice and assistance in financial planning for HOTCUS events (in collaboration with Events Secretary) 

• • Pay awards and grants 

Events Secretary 

• • Organisation of Annual Conference, including liaison with personnel of host institution on all aspects of the event 

• • Disseminate CFP for Annual Conference, review submissions, and draft programme 

• • Lead planning for future events 

• • Oversee PG-EC workshop (in collaboration with PG and EC Secretaries) 

• • Coordinate Winter Symposium (in collaboration with PG Secretaries)  

Membership Secretary  

• • Maintain membership list 

• • Manage and record membership dues (in collaboration with Treasurer) 

• • Produce and send news bulletin to HOTCUS members 

• • Ensure news is disseminated on webpage and social media accounts (in collaboration with Committee Secretary) 

• • Administer HOTCUS award schemes 

Early Career Secretary 

• • Represent Early Career researchers and academics, including those on temporary contracts and non-permanent employment, ensuring HOCUS activities meet the needs of the EC community 

• • Lead HOTCUS’s sponsorship and marketing work, including contact with publishers for paid publicity at events (in collaboration with Events Secretary) 

• • Alongside PG Secretaries, organise the PG-EC workshop that takes place before the Annual Conference (in collaboration with Events Secretary) 

• • Maintain links with counterparts on BAAS committee and other academic organisations 

Postgraduate Secretaries x 2 

• • Represent Postgraduates, ensuring events and activities meet the needs of the PG community 

• • Alongside EC Secretary, organise the PG-EC workshop that takes place before the Annual Conference (in collaboration with Events Secretary)  

• • Assist in organisation of Winter Symposium (in collaboration with Events Secretary) 

• • Maintain links with counterparts on BAAS committee and other academic organisations