News
November 2021: Range of Committee roles advertised
We are currently advertising a range of roles on our Committee and these are excellent opportunities to get involved with the society. You can find out more about each role on the respective page for the role:
- Co-Editor of MUP book series: https://frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/smffheditor.htm
- Postgraduate Representative: https://frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/pgrep.htm
- Events Officer: https://frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/eventsofficer.htm
The Society for the Study of French History is fully committed to building and sustaining equality, diversity and inclusion in all of our activities and in the membership of our committee. We particularly welcome applications from those who are currently under represented in the academy.
Enquiries, and letters of application outlining the candidate’s interest and suitability for the role (no more than 1 side), should be directed by email to the Society secretary Dr Andrew WM Smith at a.smith@chi.ac.uk by 12 January 2022.
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August 2021: New Co-Editor of French History sought
Full details of this opportunity are avilable at the following link
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July 2021: Conference Plenaries available to view
Our 34th annual conference plenary sessions are now available to watch again in H-France Salon. Hanna Diamond on “Exhibiting Resistance: Thoughts from the Front Line” & Frédéric Régent on “Pouvoir des maîtres et contrôle de l’état dans les Antilles françaises, 1626-1789”
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May 2021: Conference Report: Ships in the Proletarian Night
The SSFH provided support for a conference co-organized by Solange Manche (Cambridge) on Franco-British relations in Marxism. You can read a report on the conference here.
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October 2020: Research Report: Sneha Reddy (St Andrews)
The SSFH provided funding for Sneha Reddy (St Andrews) to conduct research into the North African and Indian soldiers deployed in Palestine and Syria during the First World War. You can read more about Sneha’s research and the full report here.
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October 2020: New Half-price Memberships
Academics in precarious employment will henceforth be able to access half-price membership of the Society, including online access to our journal, on the same self-declaration basis as other reduced-price categories.
We are also making available the option of free membership for any students, including doctoral students, who do not wish to have personal online access to the journal (membership with journal access will remain available at the same reduced rate as previously).
In conjunction with this, as discussed and agreed at our 2019 and 2020 AGMs, we will be requiring membership in the Society for all attendees at our future Annual Conferences.
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August 2020: Research Reports
The SSFH provided research funding for the following projects:
Aaron Clift, Ralph Gibson Bursary report on his reseach into anticommunism in French politics and society after the Second World War. You can read the full report here.
Rana Mohamed, ‘French-British relations and attitudes toward humanitarian relief given to concentration camp survivors between 1944 and 1948’. You can read the full report here.
Sophie Rees, ‘Madame de Maintenon as Bourbon matriarch: 1684-1715’. You can read the full report here.
Gabby Storey, ‘Co-operation, Co-Rulership and Competition: Queenship in the Angevin Domains, 1135-1230’. You can read the full report here.
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August 2020
Ralph Gibson Bursary 2020
The Society for the Study of French History is delighted to report that, in support of emergent scholars at this difficult time, we have made an unprecedented four awards of the annual Ralph Gibson Bursary for final year PhD students.
You can read the full judge’s report here, and read more about the bursary and past winners here.
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July 2020
The SSFH is inviting applications to join the committee in a new post, in order to help steer the society’s communications with its membership and external audiences. The post of Communications Officer will work closely with the President and Secretary, and the role description outlines more about the position. Applicants should be normally based in the UK & Ireland. If you are interested, please contact the SSFH Secretary Dr Andrew Smith (a.smith@chi.ac.uk) with any enquiries. Applicants should submit a short CV and a paragraph explaining their interest in the position (which can be included in the body of an email, no more than 250 words) by 31 August 2020. As ever, we would particularly welcome applications from scholars under-represented in our society.
You can find the role description by clicking HERE.
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July 2020: Research Report: Panagiotis Georgakakis
The SSFH funded Panagiotis Georgakakis to conduct research on ‘The Huguenot gazettes published in the Dutch Republic, 1677-1714’. You can read his full report here.
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July 2020
The Society approved an update to its constitution at our AGM on 10 July 2020. The new consitution is available on our website at the following link: https://frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/minutes.htm
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April 2020: Visiting Scholar’s Report: Pablo Escalante
The SSFH funded Pablo Escalante as a visiting scholar at Queen Mary, University of London in 2019. You can read his full report here.
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March 2020
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February 2020: Conference Panel Report: Jemima Short, Lindsay Macnaughton, Sarah Budasz, Emmanuela Wroth
The SSFH provided funding for a postgraduate conference panel on ‘The Near and the Far: Negotiating Distance and Desire’ made up of Jemima Short, Lindsay Macnaughton, Sarah Budasz, Emmanuela Wroth at the Nineteenth Century French Studies annual conference in Sarasota, Florida 2019. You can read the full report here.
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February 2020
The Society for the Study of French History has joined 17 organisations across the globe in signing an open letter about developments regarding access to classified documents in French Archives.
This radical break with established practice could endanger the ability of historians in France and elsewhere to access critical documents related to the Second World War, Indochina, and the Algerian War. The SSFH has joined other organisations in calling for the French state to revisit and revise this change, in order to preserve the access which vitally supports scientific research, French patrimony and the functioning of the Republic’s institutions.
The full text of the letter is available at the following link:
https://frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/archiveletter.htm
Le Monde has also published two op-eds from French and foreign academics expressing concerns around the situation, and a petition is also circulating. These articles can be accessed at the following links:
« Nous dénonçons une restriction sans précédent de l’accès aux archives contemporaines de la nation » https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2020/02/13/nous-denoncons-une-restriction-sans-precedent-de-l-acces-aux-archives-contemporaines-de-la-nation_6029398_3232.html
Archives : « Des documents que nous avons déjà exploités pourraient devenir inaccessibles » https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2020/02/13/archives-des-documents-que-nous-avons-deja-exploites-pourraient-devenir-inaccessibles_6029396_3232.html
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October 2019
‘Les Mercredis de l’Histoire de l’Europe‘. From Wednesday 16th October, L’Association des historiens will be hosting a series of talks on the history of English-European relations at the Lycée Charles de Gaulles, London. You can see the full programme here.
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Research and Conference Reports
The SSFH recently provided funding for the following research and events:
CONFERENCES:
Dr. Charlotte Faucher, Dr. Laure Humbert and Dr. Frances Houghton, ‘Chronicling the War, Re-imagining French-ness: Memoirs of the French external Resistance’. You can read more about the conference here.
Dr. Gregory Lippiatt, ‘Noblesse oblige? Barons and the Public Good in the Middle Ages’. You can read more about the conference here.
RESEARCH:
Aaron Clift, ‘Anti-communism in French politics and society, 1945-1953’. You can read more about the research here.
Frederick Coombes, ‘The Premier Festival des Arts Nègres, Dakar’. You can read more about the research here.
Natalee Garrett, ‘Satirical prints and the socio-political élite in eighteenth-century Britain and France’. You can read the full report here.
Lindsay Macnoughton, ‘French history and revolutions in the collections of John and Joséphine Bowes’. You can read more about the research here.
Antonio Marson Franchini, ‘Representation of Sanctity and Hagiographical Sources in Nicolas de Biard’s sermones de sanctis’. You can read the full report here.
Emmanuela Wroth, ‘ Sex, Song and Self-fashioning: Women on the Popular Parisian Stage’. You can read the report here.
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Committee Vacancies: Social Media Officer and Postgraduate Representatives
The Society for the Study of French History has a few vacancies on the committee for the roles of Social Media Officer and two Postgraduate Representatives. We would like to welcome expressions of interest, and have prepared description of the roles to help outline what is involved and this can be found on the Society website here. To fulfil these roles, applicants should be members of the society (or willing to become one) and ideally be based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as attendance at meetings is expected. Applications should consist of a short CV plus short covering letter (of maximum 1 page) indicating reasons for applying & any relevant organisational experience.
The primary role of the Social Media Officer position is to manage the Society’s Twitter feed and Facebook page, working with the Web Editor to promote the work of the Society. A full role description is available here:
The primary role of the Postgraduate Representative is to represent the views of postgraduates to the
committee. PG Members organise an annual study day and help to ensure that the committee is
alert to the changing needs and views of the postgraduate community across the country. A full role description is available here:
https://frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/documents/1600708%20PG%20Rep%20role%20description.pdf
We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented on our Society committee.
Please submit any applications to the Society Secretary Dr Andrew WM Smith (a.smith@chi.ac.uk) by 9th August. Please direct any queries to the same address.
This advert is also listed on the News section of the Society website here:
https://www.frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/news.htm
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A Date With History at the York Festival of Ideas: Travel Grants for Students
We are proud to be working with the French Embassy to sponsor student travel bursaries to attend the York Festival of Ideas.
The Franco-British focus will take place on Saturday, 15th June, and this year’s themes are “Fashion, Food, and Feminism”.
In conjunction with the French Embassy, we are extending a special invitation to UK postgraduate and undergraduate students studying French history and culture to attend the conference, by granting a limited number of travel bursaries (up to £100) to cover costs from within the UK to York on Saturday, 15th June.
Students who are awarded the bursaries will be asked to write a 1000-word report on one of the sessions (see programme below). The reports will then be published online by the Society for the Study of French History (SSFH), the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) and the French Embassy in London (subject to editorial quality control).
To apply, send the following documents to Francine Peyroux (francine.peyroux[at]diplomatie.gouv.fr): 
A brief CV indicating stage of study and giving the title of your courses or aspects of your research degree related to French or European history; An estimate of travel costs; The panel you would like to report on (the three sessions on Saturday are outlined below).
The closing date for application is 10 May 2019. There will be a selection process and you will be informed by e-mail on 17 May 2019 if your application is successful. A refund of travel costs will be provided after the conference on submission of report, tickets, receipts and bank account details.
For more details, please see the following link:
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Undergraduate Dissertation Prize 2018
The Society received 15 entries from 10 different institutions running the length and breadth of the country. The panel reported that the winners was:
Jack Dickens (Cambridge) for a dissertation entitled, The Revolution in Saint Domingue and the Historicity of Liberty, 1791-1797.
The runner-up was Deborah Herzberg (Cambridge), with a dissertation entitled Louis XIV’s mistresses and the political implications of favour, 1666-1674.
The panel commended Jack’s dissertation with the following description: This compelling, engaging and sophisticated dissertation is fluently written and shows genuine interpretative imagination. Drawing on a previously unknown document, Truguet’s Mémoire sur Saint- Domingue (1796), it demonstrates a remarkable appreciation of how this ‘administrator-agent’ understood the struggle for liberty in Saint-Domingue. The dissertation also speaks with confidence about Truguet’s ‘geography of liberty’ and his Eurocentric visions. It provides a robust critique of Trouillot’s Silencing the Past and engages in an inventive way with different historiographical paradigms and theoretical approaches, including Hartog’s Régime d’historicité. In sum, this dissertation offers a new interpretation of how French Republicans understood the events in Saint-Domingue (1791-97) and how they conceived of and sought to bring about a ‘free and French’ colony in the Caribbean during those brief years.
The prize was presented to Jack at our Annual Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture in January 2019. You can read Jack’s dissertation by clicking HERE
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March 2019: Research report
The SSFH funded J. William Sutcliffe (Leeds) to conduct research for his dissertation on ‘L’armée et l’atome: The French fourth republic and the armed forces’ negotiations of a nuclear future’. You can read the full report here.
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5th February 2019: New Publication: Two Huguenot Brothers
James Coltée Ducarel’s letters sent from France to his elder brother Andrew in London are a hitherto unknown resource for the study of the Enlightenment and the French Huguenots in the mid-eighteenth century. Read more about this new edition of their correspondence here.
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1st February 2019: Luke Giraudet (York) Conference Report
The SSFH provided funding for Luke Giraudet to attend the International Congress in Kalamazoo and present his research on “Rumour, Propaganda and the Parisian Massacres of 1418”. Read more about the conference and his research here.
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25th January 2019: Search for New H-France Editor-in-Chief
The Editorial Board of H-France invites applications and nominations for the position of H-France Editor-in-Chief. As H-France is the largest scholarly organization for Francophone history and culture outside of France, its Editor-in-Chief is in a unique position to build and deepen relationships among scholars and scholarly organizations across the globe, to speak on issues of professional concern to scholars of France, to promote and extend the rich tradition of scholarship about France and the Francophone world, and to help shape future scholarship, including emerging digital technologies, amidst the intellectual and political challenges of the 21st century.
The Editor-in-Chief is a volunteer position. H-France is a non-profit organization. Its services are available free-of-charge to its subscribers, and its work is carried out by teams of volunteer editors. The H-France budget, drawn from voluntary donations, covers the expenses the Editor-in-Chief incurs in this work.
Read more about the person qualifications and application process here.
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12th December 2018: Call for Contributions Suite Française Special Issue on Balzac
The journal Suite Française is seeking contributions for a special issue on Balzac. See more details (in French) here.
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3rd December: Arthur Ghins (Cambridge) Conference Report
The SSFH provided funding for Arthur Ghins to attend the 4th Political History PhD Conference in Leiden in October 2018. Read more about the conference and Arthur’s research here.
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29th October: Will Clement (Oxford): Ralph Gibson Bursary Report and Conference Bursary Report
In 2017, Will Clement held the Ralph Gibson Postgraduate Bursary for his research into housing in nineteenth-century France. Read more about Will’s research, and a conference bursary he received to travel to the Urban History Group Annual Conference in Keele in 2018 here.
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29th October: Jean-Alexandre Perras (Institute for Advanced Studies, Paris) and Érika Wicky (Institute for Advanced Studies, Lyon): Conference Report ‘Mediality of Smells’
The SSFH supported a three-day interdisciplinary and bilingual conference on the ‘Mediality of Smells’ in Oxford in 2018. You can read more about the conference in this report by Jean-Alexandre Perras and Érika Wicky here.
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29th October: Conference Report: ‘Musical Culture in the Wars of Religion, 1550-1650’
The SSFh suppored Tom Hamilton, Alex Robinson, and Edward Wickham (University of Cambridge) to organize an event exploring the musical cultures of the Wars of Religion. You can read a report on the event here.
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18th September: CFP: Noblesse oblige
Please see here for the CFP for the two-day conference ‘Noblesse oblige?: Barons and the Public Good in the Middle Ages’ to be held on the University of East Anglia campus in Norwich on the 3rd and 4th of April 2019, with a keynote address by Prof. Martin Aurell, director of the Centre d’Études Supérieures de Civilisation Médiévale, Université de Poitiers, and author of many books on aristocratic culture.
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6th September 2018: Visiting Scholar Report: Richard Golsan
The Society recently provided funding for Professor Richard Golsan to visit the University of Chichester and discuss his work on Vichy France. Read more in the report by Andrew Smith (Chichester) here.
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22nd August 2018: Research Report: Emma Kavanagh
The SSFH recently awarded funds to Emma Kavanagh (University of Nottingham) to undertake a week of archival research in Paris at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Bibliothèque-Musée de l’Opéra for her MA dissertation on male characters in Claude Debussy’s Symbolist opera Pelléas et Mélisande. Read more here.
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31st July 2018: Committee Positions
The Society for the Study of French History is seeking a number of early- and mid-career scholars to join its Committee as Ordinary Members, with a view to taking a more active role in the running of the Society in due course. You can read more about the current aims and activities of SSFH on the homepage of the Society.
We are currently engaged in a process of reviewing and updating our structures, exploring new avenues for the support of postgraduate students and ECRs, and reviewing our public and educational engagement activities. Our Society values people from all backgrounds, lifestyles, and heritages. We believe that diversity is the best way to amplify the contribution of all our members and supporters, and welcome applications from all sections of the community.
If you are interested in helping us in these developments, please send a short CV, with a covering letter indicating areas of our activity you might like to engage with, to the Society’s Secretary, Andrew Smith, by 31 October 2018. Informal inquiries are welcome, and may be addressed to the Secretary, as above, or to the President, David Andress.
A Job Description for the post of Ordinary Committee Member can be found here.
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26th June 2018: Research Report: Talitha Ilacqua
The SSFH recently funded a research trip undertaken by Talitha Ilacqua (King’s College London) for her PhD on local and national identities in the creation of a French national identity in the Basque Country from 1785 to 1870. Read more here.
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26th June 2017: Research Report: Kirstyn Raitz
The SSFH recently funded a research trip undertaken by Kirstyn Raitz (Durham University) for her PhD project on ‘Prostitution, Space and Social Control in Eighteenth-Century Paris and London’. Read more here.
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14th May 2018: A Date with History: Imagining Revolutions, York, 9-10th June 2018
Over the 9th and 10th June, this second edition of a Date With History Imagining Revolutions will bring together top historians including Peter Mandler of the University of Cambridge, Laura Lee Downs of the European University Institute, Florence Tamagne of the University of Lille, Helen Rogers of Liverpool John Moores University, Mike Savage of the London School of Economics (LSE) and David Andress of the University of Portsmouth.
Over the weekend, leading historians from France and the UK will discuss how national narratives are written, from revolutions and empires, to the industrial revolutions in France and Britain.
For more details, see the programme here.
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14th May 2018: Colloquium: Les dynamiques économiques de la Révolution française, 7-8th June, Centre National des Arts et Métiers, Paris
For more details, see the programme here.
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16th April 2018: Research Report: Gareth Oakland
The SSFH funded research by Gareth Oakland (RHUL) for his PhD on ‘Commemorating the Vendée wars under the Third Republic 1870-1914’. Read the full report here.
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19th February 2018: Research Report: Tabitha Baker
The SSFH funded research by Tabitha Baker (University of Warwick) for her PhD on ‘The Embroidery Trade in Eighteenth-Century France’. Read the full report here.
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31st January 2018: CFP: Un Monde en Transition(s)?
The Cahiers d’histoire immédiate are seeking submissions for a special issue on ‘A World in Transition(s)?’ to be published in 2018. The call for papers (in French) can be found here.
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30th January 2018: Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture, Audio and Written Report
Over on the French History Network Blog you can find a written report and audio recording of the 2018 Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture. Professor Malcolm Crook discussed ‘How the French and British Learned to Vote’. Link.
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14th November 2017: Research Report: Vittoria Princi
The SSFH funded research by Vittoria Princi (University of Oxford) for her DPhil provisionally entitled “Militarised cities? Housing and garrisoning the French Empire’s troops in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy”. Read the full report here.
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19th October 2017: CFP ASMCF and SSFH Postgraduate Study Day
The CFP for the joint Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France and Society for the Study of French History Postgraduate Study Day can be found here.
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9th October 2017: Research Report: Shyam Sridar
The SSFH funded research by Shyam Sridar (University of St Andrews) for an MLitt entitled “Un génie audacieux”: La Bourdonnais and his colonial policy in the Mascarenes’. Read the full report here.
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6th October 2017: Obituary of Bill Beik, by David Parker
Members of the Society will have been saddened to hear of the death of Bill Beik on 31st August.
His friend David Parker writes that Bill ‘was one of the most talented of that galaxy of Anglo-American historians who transformed our understanding of France in the age of absolutism.’ Read more here.
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20th September 2017: Committee Vacancy: Reviews Editor
The Society for the Study of French History has a vacancy on the committee for the role of Reviews Editor. The primary role of this position is to manage the solicitation and production of book reviews for the journal and to report to the committee on flow of books for review and receipt of copy.
We would like to welcome applications to the committee, and have prepared a description of the role to help outline what is involved and this can be found on the Society website here. To fulfil this role, applicants should be members of the society (or willing to become one) and ideally be based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as attendance at meetings is expected. Applications should consist of a CV plus covering letter (of maximum 1 page) indicating reasons for applying & relevant organisational experience. Applicants should support their application with the nomination of an existing member of the society.
We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented on our Society committee.
Please submit any applications to the Society Secretary Dr Andrew WM Smith (a.smith@chi.ac.uk) by 12 noon on Monday 30th October for consideration at our committee meeting in January 2018. Please direct any queries to the same address.
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20th September 2017: Committee Vacancy: Postgraduate Rep
The Society for the Study of French History has a vacancy on the committee for the role of Reviews Editor. The primary role of this position is to represent the views of postgraduates to the committee.
We would like to welcome applications to the committee, and have prepared a description of the role to help outline what is involved and this can be found on the Society website here. To fulfil this role, applicants should be members of the society (or willing to become one) and ideally be based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as attendance at meetings is expected. Applications should consist of a CV plus covering letter (of maximum 1 page) indicating reasons for applying & relevant organisational experience. Applicants should support their application with the nomination of an existing member of the society.
We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented on our Society committee.
Please submit any applications to the Society Secretary Dr Andrew WM Smith (a.smith@chi.ac.uk) by 12 noon on Monday 3rd December for consideration at our committee meeting in January 2018. Please direct any queries to the same address.
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6th September 2017: Death of Geoffrey Ellis
Dr Geoffrey Ellis FRHS, emeritus fellow and former tutor of history at Hertford College Oxford, passed away peacefully at home on 20 August 2017.
Geoffrey will be best known to members of the SSFH for his work on the Napoleonic Empire, including Napoleon’s Continental Blockade: The Case of Alsace (1981), The Napoleonic Empire (1997) and the profiles in power volume dedicated to Napoleon (1997). A meticulous scholar and a dedicated teacher, he was held in great affection by his students.
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6th September 2017: Research Report: Sean Patrick Marrs
The SSFH supported Sean Patrick Marrs to conduct research for his MLitt thesis ‘The Enduring Importance of Rome: France and the Papal conclave of 1774-75’. Read more here.
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21st August 2017: Call for Applications: Conference Officer
The Society for the Study of French History has a vacancy on the committee for the role of Conference Officer. The primary role of this position is to provide continuity and liaison between the Society and those individuals and institutions hosting each Annual Conference.
We would like to welcome applications to the committee, and have prepared a description of the role to help outline what is involved and this can be found on the Society website here. To fulfil these roles, applicants should be members of the society (or willing to become one) and ideally be based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as attendance at meetings is expected. Applications should consist of a CV plus covering letter (of maximum 1 page) indicating reasons for applying & relevant organisational experience. Applicants should support their application with the nomination of an existing member of the society.
We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented on our Society committee.
Please submit any applications to the Society Secretary Dr Andrew WM Smith (a.smith@chi.ac.uk) by 12 noon on Monday 3rd December for consideration at our committee meeting in January 2018. Please direct any queries to the same address.
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21st August 2017: Research Report: ‘Faith, warfare and power: Protestant noble identity during the French Wars of Religion‘
David Nicoll (University of Warwick) was awarded an SSFH research grant to conduct preliminary research in Paris for his project on Protestant nobles in the sixteenth century. Read more here.
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6th July 2017: Professor David Andress elected Chair of the SSFH
At the AGM in Strathclyde, the Society elected Professor David Andress (University of Portsmouth) as Chairperson.
The Society offers its thanks to the outgoing Chair, Professor Maíre Cross for all of her hard work, passion, and dedication to the promotion of the study of French history over the three years that she has held the post.
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6th July 2017: William Clement and Avner Ofrath win 2017-8 Ralph Gibson Bursary
William Clement (Oxford) and Avner Ofrath (Oxford) have been jointly awarded the 2017-8 Ralph Gibson postgraduate bursary. For more details on the bursary, see here.
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12th June: Dan Callwood: Ralph Gibson Bursary Report
The SSFH awarded Dan Callwood (Queen Mary, University of London) the 2016-7 Ralph Gibson postgraduate bursary for his work on‘Re-evaluating the French ‘gay liberation’ moment 1968-83’. The thesis offers a reappraisal of the process of ‘liberation’ for homosexual men in France from the events of May 1968 until the onset of the AIDS crisis in 1983. Read more here.
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12th June: Workshop Report: ‘The Pencheon Collection in Context: Collecting and Recollecting the French Revolution‘ (University of Leeds)
The SSFH recently supported a workshop held at the University of Leeds on the Pencheon Collection and the French Revolution. Read a full report here.
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31st May 2017: Conference Report: ‘Gut Feeling: Digestive Health in Nineteenth-Century Culture’
The SSFH supported this multi-disciplinary, international workshop on ‘Digestive Health in Nineteenth-Century Culture’, which was held at the University of Aberdeen on 26–27 May 2017.
Read the full report here.
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23rd May 2017: Gladstone Prize Nominations
We are delighted to announce that Terror and Terroir: The Winegrowers of the Languedoc and Modern France by Andrew Smith and From Empire to Exile: History and Memory Within the Pied-Noir and barki Communities 1962-2012 by Claire Eldridge are among the nominations for the Royal Historical Society’s Gladstone Prize. The Prize is for “a work of history on a topic not primarily related to British history that is the author’s first sole book publication”.
Both are members of the Society, and both books are published through the Society’s book series with Manchester University Press, ‘Studies in Modern French History’.
Read more about the prize here.
And read more about the book series here.
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23rd May 2017: Conference Report: Vanessa Wright at the International Congress on Medieval Studies
Vanessa Wright was recently funded by the SSFH to attend the International Congress on Medieval Studies at the University of Western Michigan. Read her full report here.
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9th May 2017: SSFH Postgraduate Poster Competition
The Society for the Study of French History is looking for poster contributions from current Masters students who are working on any aspect of French history. For more details, see here.
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3rd May 2017: Research Report, Michael Joseph ‘Race, Citizenship, and the Great War: A Comparative Study of the British and French Caribbean, 1912-1939’
Michael Joseph (Pembroke College, Oxford) as recently awarded a grant to spend time in Aix-en-Provence researching the impact of military service in the First World War on ideas of citizenship in Britain and France’s Caribbean colonies. Read the full report here.
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20th March 2017: Call for Submissions Special Issue of French History on “French Colonial Histories from Below”
The editors of French History seek articles for a special issue on the theme of “French Colonial Histories from Below” to appear in autumn 2019. For more information, see here.
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27th February 2017: Visiting Scholar Report: Dominique Kalifa
In October 2016, Northumbria University’s Institute of the Humanities hosted the first Society for the Study of French History Visiting Scholar: Professor Dominique Kalifa (Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne), a leading figure in nineteenth-century cultural history and Director of the Centre de recherches en histoire du XIXe siècle at the Sorbonne. The visit, organised by Dr Laura O’Brien with the support of colleagues at Newcastle University and Durham University, was intended to develop the relationship between France and scholars of French history in the North East of England, and to consolidate the North East’s status as an important centre for the study of French history and culture. Read more here.
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31st January 2017: Deakin Fellowship, St. Anthony’s College, Oxford
‘Applications are invited for the Deakin Fellowship for the academic year 2017-2018. The Fellowship is intended to support scholarship related to France in the College’s areas of interest, which include: Modern History, Politics, International Relations, Economics, Anthropology, Sociology and Social Policy. A particular interest in Europe is essential.’ Further particulars available here.
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16th December 2016: Conference Report: ‘The Crusades in France and Occitania’
The SSFH supported a colloquium held at the IHR in September on the Crusades in France and Occitania.
Read the full report here.
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27th September 2016: Research Report, Cherie Prosser ‘A comparative study of the artistic representation of gender and race in the French and British Empires, 1914-1920’
The SSFH supported Cherie Prosser (University of Sheffield) to conduct research into posters and prints at the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Musée de l’Armée, and the Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine.
Read the full report here.
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23rd September 2016: Conference Report, ‘‘Clash of Cultures’? Confrontation, Collusion and Cooperation in Wartime since 1870‘
In May 2016, the SSFH generously supported an international conference on confrontation, collusion, and cooperation in wartime organised at the University of Sheffield by Tim Baycroft, Bernard Wilkin, Maude Williams, Cherie Prosser, and Laurien Vandenhout.
For further details about discussions on the day, see the full report here.
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23rd September: Research Report, Philippa Read ‘Female Heroism in First World War France: Representations and Lived Experiences‘
The SSFH recently provided support for doctoral student Philippa Read (Leeds University) to visit the Bibesco collection at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin to do research for her thesis on female heroism in the First World War.
You can read a full report here.
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8th August: Research Report, Jasmine Calver ‘Anti-Fascism, Feminism and Communism: the Work of the Comité Mondial des Femmes Contre la Guerre et le Fascisme in the late 1930s’
The SSFH recently provided support for doctoral student Jasmine Calver (University of Northumbria) to visit the archives in Paris to do research for her thesis on anti-fascism, feminism, and communism in the late 1930s.
You can read a full report here.
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8th August: Conference Report ‘Sharing Space in the Early Modern World, 1450-1750’
In June 2016, the SSFh supported a conference on ‘Sharing Space in the Early Modern World’ at the University of Oxford.
For more details about the conference, please see the report here.
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25th July 2016: Conference Report ‘Beyond De Gaulle and beyond London: New approaches to the history of the Free French and the external Resistance’
In June 2016, the SSFH generously supported an international conference organised at the University of London Institute in Paris by Dr Laure Humbert (University of Manchester) and Dr Charlotte Faucher (Queen Mary, University of London). The conference brought together scholars from France, Britain, North American and Israel who work on under-studied facets of the French external Resistance during the Second World War.
For further details about discussions on the day, see the full report here.
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18th July 2016: Vacancy for Committee Members
The Society for the Study of French History has up to 3 vacancies on the Committee as a result of members reaching the end of their terms of office. We are looking for applications to carry out the following roles:
– 2 x Postgraduate Representatives
We would like to welcome applications to the committee, and have prepared descriptions of the roles to help outline what is involved. The descriptions of these roles can be found on the Society Website (please click on the roles above). To fulfil these roles, applicants should be members of the society (or willing to become one) and ideally be based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, as attendance at meetings is expected.
In addition, the Committee noted that it would especially welcome applications from medievalists to join the Committee, and would expect to ask the incoming Committee Member to serve on the Prize Panel for the Undergraduate Dissertation Prize.
Please submit any applications to the Society Secretary (andrew.wm.smith@ucl.ac.uk) by 12 noon on Monday 8th August. Please also direct any queries to Dr Andrew WM Smith.
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9th July 2016: New undergraduate scholarship in memory of Douglas Johnson
From University College London website:
“An alumnus of the department has generously funded an undergraduate scholarship in memory of his favourite teacher at UCL – distinguished historian Professor Douglas Johnson. Professor of French History at UCL from 1968, Johnson became both Head of Department and Dean of Arts and published widely, contributing to Anglo-French relations. He was also recruited by the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to provide an alternative view of France to that of the Foreign Office. After his retirement in 1990, Professor Johnson became a Chevalier (Knight) and then Officier of the Légion d’honneur (the highest order of merit in France), and died in 2005. The new scholarship will enable a student in financial need to study for a degree at UCL History, commencing in September 2016. The value of the award is £12,500 per year based on a three year programme. As a department we are extremely grateful to our benefactor for making this possible; their gift will help to further our efforts to widen participation at UCL, ensuring that access to education is based entirely on merit.”
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The Society welcomes contributions from members and the public for the news section of the website. Items of interest might include successful funding bids, events, and exhibitions relevant to French history in the broad sense.
