Department of History
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About the department
Research
Lifelong Learning
Dr Margery Masterson
Seminar Tutor
Contact details
Email: Margery.Masterson@bristol.ac.uk
Research Interests
I recently completed my doctorate at Bristol exploring a surge of scandals that plagued the British army during the mid-Victorian period. Integrating military and political histories with interdisciplinary social, cultural and imperial studies of the nineteenth century, I use these causes célèbre to look at a range of themes: the challenges of gentlemanly conflict resolution after the prohibition of duelling, the impact of a rapidly expanding and innovative Victorian press and entertainment culture on real-life dramas, and the disconnects as well as the continuities between British and colonial societies at a time of increased communication. An overarching theme is the influential yet unstable role of scandal within popular outcry and its potential for reform.
My research interests include the history of scandal more broadly, modern communication networks, present historical research styles, biographical writing and the history of duelling. As part of my involvement in colonial studies networks, I have co-edited the Bristol edition of the World University Network’s postgraduate ejournal Ex Plus Ultra, co-organized an international conference, Windows of Empire,and have visited the University of Sydney through the WUN’s Research Mobility Scheme.
Teaching
- Introduction to the History of the British Empire
- Birth of Modern America, 1917-29 (Special Topic)
Publications/Reviews
‘Dangerous Detours: The Perils of Victorian Periodicals in the Digitized Age’ in Jason McElligott and Eve Patten (eds.), The Perils of Print Culture (forthcoming, Dublin, 2013.)
‘Review of Fringes of Empire: People, Places and Spaces by Elizabeth Kolsky and Sametha Agha (eds.)’, Journal of Commonwealth and Imperial History, 38:3 (2010), 501-2.