Registration Required: Due to limited space, please complete the registration form here if you are interested in attending.
Programme Overview
9:00-9:30: Welcome
9:30-11:00: Belonging and Citizenship
One of the main themes of the Harmsworth lectures over the last century has been the question of who is an American? What have been the changing boundaries of belonging and citizenship, and how have these been contested? What role have race, class, and gender played in defining what it means to be an American. This panel will consider how these questions have shaped the writing of American history in the past and chart their likely future trajectory.
Featuring: Lizabeth Cohen (Harvard University, Harmsworth 2007-08), Annette Gordon-Reed (Harvard University, Harmsworth 2014-15), and Barbara Savage (University of Pennsylvania, Harmsworth 2018-19), chaired by Robin Kelley (UCLA, Harmsworth 2009-10)
11:30-13:00: America and the World
Another of the key themes of the Harmsworth lectures has been the place of the United States in the world. Perhaps in part because of the external perspective of a position in Oxford, Harmsworth Professors have often taken the opportunity to reflect on their country in comparative, transnational and global terms. This panel will consider the changing assumptions and methodologies embedded in these lectures, and reflect on how scholars, now and in the future, will approach the field of America and the World.
Featuring: Kristin Hoganson (University of Illinois, Harmsworth 2015-16), David Hollinger (University of California, Berkeley, Harmsworth 2001-02), Melvyn Leffler (University of Virginia, Harmsworth 2002-03), and Ian Tyrrell (University of New South Wales, Harmsworth 2010-11), chaired by Uta Balbier (Oxford)
13:00 Lunch break- a light vegetarian meal will be provided
14:00-15:00: American History at Oxford
The existence of the Harmsworth Professorship of American History implies that there is a field of “American history” and that it should be studied here. This final session will invite reflections on how and why it matters to study American history from the outside in. What assumptions have been made about the category of American history through studying it from the UK, and how have these assumptions altered as the geopolitical context has transformed over the last hundred years. A conversation chaired by Jay Sexton (Missouri)
Open to all. If you are interested in attending, please complete the registration form here.
