Spencer Drake

I’m a DPhil candidate in History at Harris Manchester College, having previously earned an MPhil in Modern British History at Gonville & Caius College Cambridge, under Professor Peter Mandler, and a BA in History at King’s College London, under Dr. Chris Manias. I study transatlantic history in the nineteenth century, specialising in America’s relationship with the British world and New England’s cultural, economic, and intellectual ties to British imperialism. My current research examines this history through a religious lens, seeking to understand what antebellum ministers drew from British intellectuals in preaching what it means to be American.

In addition to my primary research, I have written extensively on American history of science, particularly as regards the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. I have presented my research in papers at Britain and the World, the European Association of Archaeologists, and the Cambridge Cultural History Workshop.