Contact Information

Biography

John C. Mitcham is a historian of the British Empire, with a particular focus on settler colonialism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His first book, Race and Imperial Defence in the British World 1870-1914 (Cambridge University Press, 2016), examines the cultural links between Britain and the self-governing Dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The book argues that a shared and highly racialized concept of "Britishness" gradually led to closer relations within the white portions of the empire, particularly in the realm of defense cooperation.

John is currently finishing a new book entitled The Empire Club: Imperial Politics, White Supremacy, and the Making of the Commonwealth (under contract with Oxford University Press). Based on archival research in seven countries, the book examines the origins of the Commonwealth as a joint project between Britain and the Dominions to create an Anglophone and racialized global order-one which strictly policed membership and worked to make the world safe for settler colonialism.

He is beginning a new book project tentatively titled “The American Civil War, the British Empire, and the Global Struggle for Freedom.” The project examples how colonial subjects in places like Jamaica, India, Australia, and South Africa engaged with wartime debates about slavery, secession, capitalism, and democracy. In particular, the project seeks to understand how American claims about freedom and liberty undermined British notions of an inherently benevolent and liberal empire. 

Mitcham is the General Editor of the peer-reviewed journal Britain and the World (published by Edinburgh University Press). He is active in a number of professional organizations, including the North American Conference on British Studies, the Society for Military History, the Southern Conference on British Studies, and the Royal Historical Society. He has delivered lectures and presentations throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia.

Education

  • PhD. University of Alabama

Research Interests or Expertise

  • British Empire
  • Global History
  • Race and Gender
  • Imperialism/Colonialism
  • Military, Diplomatic, and Maritime History

School

 

  • HONR 100 What is Colonialism?
  • HIST 151: Shaping of the Modern World
  • HIST 209 Naval and Maritime History
  • HIST 214: Western Civilization II
  • HIST 266: Modern Britain
  • HIST 346 World War II
  • HIST 370: Empire in Modern History
  • HIST 428W/528: British Empire
  • HIST 458W/558 First World War in a Global Context
  • HIST 619: Nineteenth Century Europe
Monograph:
  • Race and Imperial Defence in the British World, 1870-1914 (Cambridge University Press, 2016)

Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters:

  • “A.A. Milne” in Kathleen Williams and Hal M. Friedman (eds.), From Soldier to Storyteller: Essays on World War Veterans Who Became Famous Children’s Authors (Forthcoming by McFarland Press, Fall 2024)
  • “Imperial Westminster: Colonial Statesmen and British Parliamentary Politics, 1880-1920” (Forthcoming as part of a special issue of Parliamentary History, Spring 2025)
  • "The 1924 Empire Cruise and the Imagining of an Imperial Community." Britain and the World Vol. 12 No. 1 (March 2019)
  • "Of the Blood of Sea Peoples: Navalism and Greater Britain," in Maritime History and Identity: The Sea and Culture in the Modern World, ed. Duncan Redford (London: I.B. Tauris, 2014)
  • "Patrolling the White Man's Grave: Disease and the Anglo-American Anti-Slavery Squadrons, 1841-1862." The Northern Mariner/Le marin du Nord Vol. XX (January 2010)

Works in Progress:
  • The Empire Club: Imperial Politics, White Supremacy, and the Making of the Commonwealth (Under contract with Oxford University Press)
  • The American Civil War, the British Empire, and the Global Struggle for Freedom (new book project; currently conducting research) 
  • “‘The Empire Club’: Settler Colonial Personalities and the Reinvention of Imperial Politics.”  North American Conference on British Studies.  Denver, CO November 15, 2024
  • Invited Talk, “Global Lives at the Apex of Empire,” Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen.  October 22, 2024
  • “There is No Room for Indians in the British Empire Itself”: Satyendra Prasanna Sinha and the Politics of Moderate Indian Nationalism”  2024 Britain and the World Conference.  June 22, 2024 Winchester UK
  • Moderator: Roundtdable on Academic Publishing (with Royal Historical Society, Palgrave, Boydell and Brewer, and Adam Matthews Publishing” 2024 Britain and the World Conference.  June 22, 2024 Winchester UK
  • “The CSS Alabama and the American Civil War in South Africa” McMullen Naval History Symposium.  Annapolis MD September 21, 2023
  • “Jan Smuts, Settler Colonialism, and the Irish Question,” Global Irish Diaspora Congress. Durban, South Africa.  July 20, 2023
  • Keynote Address, “Imperial Westminster: Colonial Statesmen and British Parliamentary Politics, 1880-1920” International Workshop on Settler Colonialism and Parliamentary Democracy: Histories and Legacies, 1867 to the Present, History of Parliament, London, April 12, 2023
  • “Transimperial Careers and Parliamentary Politics in the British Empire, 1880-1920”  North American Conference on British Studies.  Chicago, IL November 11, 2022
  • "Jan Smuts, Transnational White Supremacy, and the Idea of Commonwealth,” World History Association Conference.  Bilbao, Spain  June 23, 2022
  • The Racial Worldview of Jan Smuts,” Britain and the World Conference.  Plymouth, UK June 14, 2022
  • Invited Talk, “Dream of Empire: Jan Smuts, South Africa, and the Settler Colonial World Order,” Inaugural Helen Delpar Lecture, University of Alabama.  Tuscaloosa, AL, March 31, 2022
  • "Jan Smuts, Settler Colonialism, and the Irish Question." North American Conference on British Studies. Atlanta, GA November 12, 2021
  • "The British Empire Delegation, Paris Peace Conference, and the Origins of the Commonwealth," Conference on Peacemaking After the First World War at the National Archives of the UK. London, UK June 27 2019
  • "The Imperial War Cabinet and Visions of a Postwar World Order," Society of Military History Conference. Columbus, OH May 10 2019
  • "Moderate Nationalists and the Indian Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference," Britain and the World Conference. Kansas City, MO April 11 2019
  • Plenary Address, "Jan Smuts, Imperial Statesmanship, and the First World War," Australian Defence Force Academy at the University of New South Wales. Canberra, AU August 2 2018
  • Keynote Address, Graduate History Conference, Brunel University. London, UK April 2018
  • "The 1924 Empire Cruise and the Imagining of an Imperial Community," Cultures in Imperialism Workshop at the North American Conference on British Studies. Denver, CO. November 4 2017
  • "Late Victorian Imperial Security and the Origins of the Anglosphere," Joint Services Command and Staff College. Shrivenham, UK May 17 2017
  • "The Imperial War Conferences and the Origins of the Modern Commonwealth," Institute of Historical Research International History Seminar. London, UK January 31 2017
  • "What to do with the Empire? The Cabinet, the Dominions, and the Outbreak of the First World War," Britain and the World Conference. Austin, TX April 7 2017
  • "Colonial Nationalism, Britishness, and the 1924 Empire Cruise," Southern Conference on British Studies. Tampa, FL November 4 2016
  • "Forging a ‘Britannic Alliance': The Dominions and Imperial Security, 1907-1918," North American Conference on British Studies. Little Rock, AR November 14 2015
  • "The Boy Scouts, Military Education, and Imperial Defense," The Symposium on Military Education and Empire at the Royal Military College of Canada. Kingston, CA November 6 2015
  • "The 1924 ‘Empire Cruise' and Naval Defense in the Pacific," McMullen Symposium, United States Naval Academy. Annapolis, MD September 19 2015
  • "The Admiralty, the Dominions, and International Maritime Law," Society of Military History Conference. Montgomery, AL April 11 2015
  • "'Brother Britons': Robert Baden-Powell, the Boy Scouts, and the British World, 1907-1918," American Historical Association Annual Meeting. New York, NY January 3 2015
Academic Honors:
  • Elected Fellow, Royal Historical Society, 2018
  • Finalist, Templer Medal Book Prize. Given by the Society for Army Research of the United Kingdom for Race and Imperial Defence in the British World, 2017
  • Outstanding Dissertation of the Year, Graduate School, University of Alabama, 2013
  • Clark F. Reynolds Prize for Best Graduate Paper, North American Society for Oceanic History Conference, 2008
  • Albert Burton Moore Award for Outstanding Work in European History, University of Alabama, 2008

Grants:
  • Faculty Development Fund, Duquesne University, 2024
  • Presidential Scholarship Award, Duquesne University, 2019
  • Research Fellowship, Australian Army Historical Unit, 2018
  • Faculty Development Fund, Duquesne University, 2017
  • Severino A. Russo Endowed Faculty Development Award, Duquesne University, 2016
  • Wimmer Family Foundation, Faculty Development Award, Duquesne University, 2016
  • NEH Faculty Endowment Grant, Duquesne University, 2015
  • International Travel Assistance, National Museum of the Royal Navy, 2014
  • Visiting Research Fellowship, Australian Army Historical Unit, 2013
  • International Enrichment Travel Fund, University of Alabama, 2010
  • Graduate Council Dissertation Fellowship, University of Alabama, 2010
  • Department of History European Research Grant, University of Alabama, 2009
    Department of History Dissertation Fellowship, University of Alabama, 2009
  • Russell F. Weigley Travel Grant, Society of Military History, 2009