Annual Conference

Broadsides

The Latest from Broadsides

A painting c. early 18th century shows a small boat full of sailors pulling up to a large naval ship.

Shifting and Permanent States: Experiencing Disability in the Seventeenth-Century British Navy

"For the men and boys of the late seventeenth-century British navy, disability was a category of self-definition..."

Annastasia Conner

Mar 28

A photograph of the coast, a rocky beach with tide pools and a clear blue sky.

Fifty Years in the West: PCCBS 1974-2025

Some of the founders of the Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies, who migrated west in the Nixon era, may have been familiar with...

David Cressy

Mar 21

The Bright Young People at 100: Lessons on the "Trivial"

"In many ways, attention to elite culture helps us to understand culture more broadly..."

Thomas J. Sojka

Jan 31

“If I could turn back the hands of time, I would have been there to cushion her fall”: Sylvia Ome Erike, 1953-1983

“Sylvia! Why did you have to leave us all so soon?” poet and activist Kadifa lamented in a poem published in honour of her friend.

Olivia Wyatt

Jan 10

The King, his Courtesan, and the Snuffbox he Gave of her: Variations on an Erotic Ritual from George IV to Bootsy

This material culture, originally created to keep air out of delicate powdered snuffs, became one of the most exquisite and defining...

Anna Roberts

Dec 13, 2024

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Broadsides Series

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

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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

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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

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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 new NACBS initiative here.

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