Thesis title: ‘Creating a New Shanghai; the End of the British Presence (1949-54)’
Research Interests
My research focuses on the foreign, especially British, presence in China, and on the Chinese Communist Party’s interactions with foreigners. My current thesis project uses newly available Chinese archival sources to examine the ending of the British presence in Shanghai and the transformation of the city in the years following its takeover by the Chinese Communist Party in 1949. The thesis is based on research conducted in Shanghai and Beijing while affiliated to the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences in 2009-2010.
Previous research projects have focused on other aspects of the British experience in China, including; the collapse of the foreign-dominated Chinese Maritime Customs Service in 1949; the British community in Beijing in the 1920s and 1930s; and a biographical account of Korean War POW ‘defector’ Andrew Condron’s decision to remain with his captors in early Communist China rather than return to his native Scotland.
Teaching
‘Introduction to the History of the British Empire,’ seminar teaching for first year undergraduate students, Bristol University, Spring, 2009.
‘Introduction to the History of the British Empire,’ Autumn 2010.
‘Communists, Capitalists and Colonialists: Understanding the History of Republican-era Shanghai,’ co-designed and taught special topic unit for first year undergraduates, Spring 2011.
Completed University of Bristol Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Programme, Spring 2009.
Publications
‘Ouzhou; Zhengzhi shang de wujie duo guo tongqing,’ Nandu Zhoukan, Nanjing Da Tusha zai Xifang, 2007 nian, 12 yue, 14ri . [‘Europe: Political Misunderstandings and Great Sympathy,’ Southern Metropolis Weekly), Special Issue- ‘The Nanjing Massacre in the West,’ No. 178, 12th December 2007]. In Chinese.
Conference Papers
‘New Approaches to the end of Imperial Shanghai,’ New Research in Colonial & Postcolonial History Postgraduate Workshop, convened by the Centre for the Study of Colonial & Postcolonial Societies, University of Bristol, 10th December 2010.
‘From ‘Imperialist Stronghold’ to Socialist City: Shanghai 1949-1954,’ Dimensions of Socialism, workshop at the International Institute for Social History, Amsterdam, November 2010.
‘Creating a New Shanghai: the End of the British Presence (1949-54),’ British Association for Chinese Studies Annual Conference, 8-9 September 2010, University of Bristol, September 2010.
‘The End of ‘Britain in China;’ Reassessing the Ejection of British Interests by the CCP,’ China Postgraduate Network Conference, April 2009.
‘The Chinese Maritime Customs and the Chinese Civil War; The End of the Customs,’ China Postgraduate Network Re-launch Conference, March 2008.
‘The British Community in Beijing (1920-1937),’ Britain in China Workshop, University of Bristol, February 2007.
Archival and Documentary Research
Butterfield and Swire company archive, London, Summer 2009
HSBC Group Archives, London, Winter 2008
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, Summer 2010
Second Historical Archive, Nanjing, Summer 2007
Shanghai Library, Winter 2009
Shanghai Municipal Archives, Summer 2009-Summer 1010
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (Butterfield and Swire papers), Spring 2010
The National Archives, Kew, 2004-2010
Tianjin Library, September 2009
Education
Candidate for PhD in History, Bristol University, 2008-2011.
Supervisor: Professor Robert Bickers
Thesis title: ‘Creating a New Shanghai; the End of the British Presence (1949-54)’
MPhil Modern Chinese Studies with Distinction, St Cross College, Oxford University, 2006 - 2008
Supervisor: Doctor Rana Mitter
Dissertation title: ‘The Chinese Maritime Customs and the Chinese Civil War; The End of the Customs.’
MA Colonialism in History with Distinction, Bristol University, 2006
Supervisor: Professor Robert Bickers
Dissertation title: ‘The British Community in Beijing (1920-1937).’
BA History with First Class Honours, Bristol University, 2005
Supervisor: Professor Robert Bickers
Thesis title: ‘Andrew Condron; The Only British Prisoner of War to Refuse Repatriation at the End of the Korean War.’
Funding Awards
2006 Awarded BICC Five Year Studentship for MPhil Modern Chinese Studies at Oxford University and PhD study at Bristol University
2006 Awarded three years PhD funding from AHRC (Declined)
2006 Awarded three years PhD funding from Bristol University (Declined)