Connie Thomas
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conniethomas.bsky.social
Connie Thomas
@conniethomas.bsky.social
Historian of early US migration politics & American identity
Lecturer in US History @UCL.ac.uk

Comms @branchuk.bsky.social
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Deadline to apply is December 12, 2025

So if you are a student who has recently completed, or is slated to complete, your undergraduate studies at a British University, do check it out 🎉

And if you are an academic who knows of any students who might be interested, do please share 😊
An unrivaled opportunity to study in the ‘show me’ state:

Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri, BrANCH is once again pleased to offer a fully-funded place on their MA program in Atlantic History and Politics for 2026-27!

www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranch...
Kinder-BrANCH MA Fellowship — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
October 22, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
An unrivaled opportunity to study in the ‘show me’ state:

Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri, BrANCH is once again pleased to offer a fully-funded place on their MA program in Atlantic History and Politics for 2026-27!

www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranch...
Kinder-BrANCH MA Fellowship — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
October 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Two weeks until the “Beyond Academia” online panel!!!

Should be a good discussion, especially for PGRs and ECRs, whether you are thinking of alternative paths to a career beyond academia or not 😄
October 1, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
A message from our friends @royalhistsoc.org about ECR prizes!
RHS First Book and Early Career Article Prizes, 2026.

We invite submissions for the Society's book and article prizes: for eligible titles published in 2025. Further details and how to apply: bit.ly/3KnR47v

Submissions are by self-nomination by an author. Closing date: 15 December #Skystorians
Royal Historical Society Book and Article Prizes, 2026: submissions now invited - RHS
The Royal Historical Society invites applications for its First Book Prize, 2026 and Early Career Article Prize, 2026. The call for submissions opens on Monday 29 September 2025 and runs to Monday 15 ...
bit.ly
September 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
At BrANCH this year in Cardiff, I was struck by so many rich presentations exploring migration and borders, both timely and timeless subjects!

For those interested, the Immigration and Ethnic History Society offers a range of prestigious prizes, a few with deadlines coming up

iehs.org/awards/
Awards Overview
Visit the post for more.
iehs.org
September 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Speaking of, mark your calendars for a fantastic discussion with Dr. Catriona Byers and Dr. Laura Wilson about exploring alternative careers beyond academia, such as with libraries, archives, media and publishing!

🗓️ Wednesday, 15 October

🕐 17:30 - 18:30 (GMT)

📍 Online
September 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Another fantastic BrANCH conference for the ages (our first in Cymru/Wales!)

A big thank you to organisers David and Gareth, Emily and the BrANCH Committee, the kind staff at the Leonardo Hotel, and all of you for making it such a success!
September 15, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Gutted to not be joining #SHEAR2025 in person this year, but very much looking forward to zooming in from across the pond!

(And yes, isn't it deeply ironic that a British historian of US migration/borders can't make it this year because of - you guessed it - the US border!)
July 16, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Matt Walsh's imaginary professor: "good morning student-comrades. today we learn how to bayonet a white Christian capitalist while taking trans hormones"

actual average professor: "folks, I am begging you, please do the reading for tomorrow this time. it is five pages"
one of the things that gets me about so many of the pundits who pontificate about "higher education" when they really mean a handful of elite private institutions is that most of them live within driving distance of either a community college or a non-selective public institution
July 16, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Calling all PGRs/ECRs 📣

In collaboration with @hotcus.bsky.social we are hosting a workshop at the Rothermere Americation Institute this November!

Participants can meet other junior scholars, get feedback on works-in-progress, and take part in academic publishing and ‘viva survivor’ sessions 💪📚
2025 PGR/ECR Workshop — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
July 14, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Registration is now open for our 2025 conference in Cardiff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Hosted in collaboration with BGEAH, this year's conference has an excellent programme of speakers, including keynotes from @timlockley.bsky.social (Warwick) and Catherine Kelly (William & Mary/OIEAHC)!

Check it out 👇
2025 Conference — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
June 12, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Calling all UK-based PGRs/ECRs 📣 Are you planning your next conference visit or research trip stateside? Apply for one of our Peter Parish Travel Grants for up to £1000 towards your trip!

Our next round closes in TWO WEEKS on July 1st - don't miss out!
Parish Travel Grants — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
June 17, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
And here is the UCL SELCS-CMII PhD studentship. Please repost to maximise knowledge of this funding for both studentships. 2/2
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
June 16, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Two 4-year fully-funded PhD studentships available at UCL for Black British candidates. One in History of the legacy of Transatlantic slavery and reparations; the other on reparations and the media/culture focusing on reparations and the media/culture. Here's the History one. 1/2
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
www.ucl.ac.uk
June 16, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Closes today!!
June 13, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Our Harriet Tubman Essay Prize closes this Friday - 13th June! 🚨

The prize celebrates the best undergrad essay on 19thC US History written by a BAME student. There's lots of amazing work out there - make sure to encourage your students to submit!

More details 👇
Harriet Tubman Essay Prize — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
June 11, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Our award-winning Migrant Makers Market is back online! 🎉
Shop work by 30+ migrant makers sharing migration stories through craft.

Enjoy 15% off with code MMSHOPAGAIN15 🛍️
Support the museum & independent makers 💛
#ShopWithPurpose #MigrantMakers
May 30, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
🗃️ What do migrants think, feel, do, and pack on the eve of departure, in transit, and when returning home? See "Rituals of Migration" @nyupress.bsky.social edited by @kevinkenny.bsky.social and @irpinaingiro.bsky.social nyupress.org/978147982513... @gihnyu.bsky.social @tedsmyth.bsky.social 🧵1/5
Rituals of Migration
Italian and Irish immigrant experiencesWhen people migrate, they often perform social and cultural rituals along the way. The idea of rites of passage—with...
nyupress.org
May 13, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Workers Day of Action for Trans Rights

⏰ Today!
📍Your workplace!

It is incumbent on trade unionists to resist the Supreme Court ruling and EHRC interim update.

Trans rights are human rights. Trans rights are workers rights.

A thread of inspiration, ideas, and action.
May 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Today is the final day to submit a proposal for our upcoming conference in Cardiff! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

You can find more info and details of how to apply on our website 👇
Cardiff 2025 — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
April 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Fascinating OPEN ACCESS article by @aishadjelid.bsky.social in ANCH on forced reproduction in the antebellum South, filling an important gap in the historiography of American slavery - read and share free of charge using this link:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

@branchuk.bsky.social
“The master whished to reproduce”: slavery, forced intimacy, and enslavers’ interference in sexual relationships in the antebellum South, 1808–1861
This article examines the extent to which enslavers across the antebellum South forced enslaved men and women to reproduce. Using a spectrum of violence as a tool of coercion, enslavers coerced, ca...
www.tandfonline.com
April 18, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
Today’s Supreme Court ruling on the For Women Scotland case is a disgraceful attack on trans rights. In a process that excluded trans voices and centred anti-trans groups, this is not justice — it’s erasure. We will never stop fighting for our trans community 🏳️‍⚧️
April 16, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Connie Thomas
There's not much time left to submit a proposal for our BrANCH-BGEAH conference in Cardiff 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🚨

Bonus points for those spanning the long 19th century - from Independence to imperialism, women's rights to worker's activism, Harriet Tubman to Ida B. Wells...

Find more info & details of how to apply👇
Cardiff 2025 — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
April 14, 2025 at 2:23 PM