Contact
Biography
I am an Africanist and feminist historian who specialises in modern South African and Zimbabwean history. To date, my research has examined the relationship between transnational networks, settler colonialism and women's colonial histories, principally focusing on white women and the ambiguities of race and gender in the Southern African region. My first monograph, Gendering the Settler State: White Women, Race, Liberalism and Empire in Rhodesia c.1950-1980 (Routledge, New York, 2016, paperback 2017) began the long overdue task of "gendering" the history of British decolonisation, through examining how "liberal" women responded to UDI, guerrilla insurgency and the coming of independence in colonial Zimbabwe.
I was awarded my PhD from the University of Sheffield in 2012, following which I became a Vice-Chancellor's postdoctoral fellow, and latterly lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Prior to joining Nottingham in October 2018, I was senior lecturer at the University of Chichester where I taught widely on the Modern History programme. I have successfully supervised three PhD theses and welcome enquiries from those interested in modern Southern African history; women's history; and aspects of "new" imperial history.
I'm currently a managing editor of The South African Historical Journal, and prior to that I was the reviews editor for Itinerario: Journal of Imperial and Global Interactions. If you have an idea for a special issue of SAHJ, then please do get in touch.
Teaching Summary
I currently teach the second year optional module, HIST2051: Villains or Victims? White Women and the British Empire, c.1840-1980, I also teach on the following modules:
HIST 1001 Learning History
HIST 1014/1015 The Contemporary World
HIST 4011 The Unmasterable Past
HIST 4065 Daily Life in Authoritarian Regimes
HIST 4025 Research Methods in History
Research Summary
I am currently working on a book project which is currently entitled: 'Fighting Fertility: The Politics of Race and Contraception in Apartheid South Africa, c.1980-1994'. Fighting Fertility grows out… read more
Recent Publications
Current Research
I am currently working on a book project which is currently entitled: 'Fighting Fertility: The Politics of Race and Contraception in Apartheid South Africa, c.1980-1994'. Fighting Fertility grows out of my interest in the histories of female activism and liberal networks in Southern Africa, and has received funding from the Wellcome Trust, the British Academy and the South African National Research Foundation. Transnational in focus, it concentrates on the efforts of the women's wing of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) to have apartheid South Africa banned from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) due to its use of the controversial contraceptive injection Depo-Provera, whilst also interrogating the shifting meaning of "Family Planning" during the lifespan of the apartheid regime.T
Past Research
My past research includes a public engagement project that uncovered the history of anti-apartheid activity in Nottinghamshire. You can read more about this project here.
I was also the PI on 'Social History From the Global South: New Voices From Southern Africa' which received generous funding from the British Academy under the auspices of their 'Writing Workshop' scheme. The workshop took place at the University of the Free State, South Africa, in February 2023, and you can read more about it here.