Christina Welsch
@christinawelsch.bsky.social
Historian of colonial India; Author of The Company's Sword: The East India Company and the Politics of Militarism, 1644-1858.
Pinned
The Company's Sword
Cambridge Core - South Asian History - The Company's Sword
www.cambridge.org
I am a historian of eighteenth-century colonial India. My first book, The Company's Sword, looks at how the racist ideologies of the colonial state were codified and enacted within its army, specifically by its white officer corps. (www.cambridge.org/core/books/c...)
Some internet questions are easier for me to answer than others...
October 21, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Some internet questions are easier for me to answer than others...
Reposted by Christina Welsch
🗃️ Very pleased that my new article "‘Tippoo…Was Just Such a Man As I Am’: Protest, Rebellion and Military Labour in South India" is now available via early access in South Asia www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZEFEU....
‘Tippoo…Was Just Such a Man As I Am’: Protest, Rebellion and Military Labour in South India
The East India Company’s expansion over South India profoundly disrupted economic networks. Scholarship on this ‘colonial transition’ has shown that colonial subjects challenged the Company’s rule ...
www.tandfonline.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:51 PM
🗃️ Very pleased that my new article "‘Tippoo…Was Just Such a Man As I Am’: Protest, Rebellion and Military Labour in South India" is now available via early access in South Asia www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZEFEU....
🗃️ Very pleased that my new article "‘Tippoo…Was Just Such a Man As I Am’: Protest, Rebellion and Military Labour in South India" is now available via early access in South Asia www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZEFEU....
‘Tippoo…Was Just Such a Man As I Am’: Protest, Rebellion and Military Labour in South India
The East India Company’s expansion over South India profoundly disrupted economic networks. Scholarship on this ‘colonial transition’ has shown that colonial subjects challenged the Company’s rule ...
www.tandfonline.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:51 PM
🗃️ Very pleased that my new article "‘Tippoo…Was Just Such a Man As I Am’: Protest, Rebellion and Military Labour in South India" is now available via early access in South Asia www.tandfonline.com/eprint/ZEFEU....
This is incredible work and disheartening findings. Sorry to say my college is also a part of this trend.
Each year I update this table which surveys scholars programs at the top 10 colleges and unis. Were schools that cared so much about DEI in 2020 still committed 5 years later?
Here's what I found:
Here's what I found:
October 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
This is incredible work and disheartening findings. Sorry to say my college is also a part of this trend.
Petition summarized in translation.
October 13, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Petition summarized in translation.
Reposted by Christina Welsch
P. J. Marshall was one of the first scholars (who wasn't actually my teacher) to give me encouragement on my work. Forever grateful, and am sad to hear of his passing.
Thanks to @eicathomefinn.bsky.social for notification of the death of Peter (P.J.) Marshall (1933-2025), a great historian of India and Empire, and a pioneering President of the Royal Historical Society. His last book is going to press so there is more of his work still to appreciate.
July 26, 2025 at 9:32 PM
P. J. Marshall was one of the first scholars (who wasn't actually my teacher) to give me encouragement on my work. Forever grateful, and am sad to hear of his passing.
Literal South Sea bubble farce
June 20, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Literal South Sea bubble farce
@kavehmd.bsky.social Love the pod! I listened to the fluoride episode, and I wanted to know if you had any suggestions for parents who live in places that have already banned fluoride. Besides protesting the ban (and brushing), what else can I do to protect my kid's teeth?
May 15, 2025 at 10:48 PM
@kavehmd.bsky.social Love the pod! I listened to the fluoride episode, and I wanted to know if you had any suggestions for parents who live in places that have already banned fluoride. Besides protesting the ban (and brushing), what else can I do to protect my kid's teeth?
So @tressiemcphd.bsky.social's point would basically be valid in any context, but you should've seen my face when I opened the conversation to see someone insulting one of the best-looking plates of red beans I've ever seen...
No British person should ever, a single day on god’s green earth, disparage anybody’s food. Literally ever. Never seen a seasoning you wouldn’t steal for but never use. Please sit down with your peas and mash and chew silently.
April 16, 2025 at 8:35 PM
So @tressiemcphd.bsky.social's point would basically be valid in any context, but you should've seen my face when I opened the conversation to see someone insulting one of the best-looking plates of red beans I've ever seen...
Yet more evidence that administrators will do anything to avoid adding more tenure-track lines...
(This is a joke. Well done, Harvard! Keep fighting so that those of us at other, smaller colleges can follow suit.)
(This is a joke. Well done, Harvard! Keep fighting so that those of us at other, smaller colleges can follow suit.)
April 14, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Yet more evidence that administrators will do anything to avoid adding more tenure-track lines...
(This is a joke. Well done, Harvard! Keep fighting so that those of us at other, smaller colleges can follow suit.)
(This is a joke. Well done, Harvard! Keep fighting so that those of us at other, smaller colleges can follow suit.)
Got my newly issued work PC on Friday, and was horrified to discover that it includes a new key that by default opens up Microsoft Copilot.
LLMs just turned hate, greed, and ignorance into a tariff on penguins. Why in the world do I need a dedicated stupidity button on this machine?
LLMs just turned hate, greed, and ignorance into a tariff on penguins. Why in the world do I need a dedicated stupidity button on this machine?
April 6, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Got my newly issued work PC on Friday, and was horrified to discover that it includes a new key that by default opens up Microsoft Copilot.
LLMs just turned hate, greed, and ignorance into a tariff on penguins. Why in the world do I need a dedicated stupidity button on this machine?
LLMs just turned hate, greed, and ignorance into a tariff on penguins. Why in the world do I need a dedicated stupidity button on this machine?
Reposted by Christina Welsch
"I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America, because that speaks to our greatness" -- 20 hours into his speech, Cory Booker is spitting absolute 🔥
April 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
"I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America, because that speaks to our greatness" -- 20 hours into his speech, Cory Booker is spitting absolute 🔥
This article is great. The concerns raised about the oft-suggested panacea of in-class writing seem particularly relevant. Learning how to write (and think) should be deliberate (often slow), and, with society devaluing it and LLMs offering shortcuts, how do we convince students it's worth doing?
This article very much speaks to my experiences.
At present, I only assign papers in classes that I teach within a prison, where AI is a non-issue. It's such a delight to work with students through difficult ideas and see them grow as writers. I wish I could do it still with all of my students.
At present, I only assign papers in classes that I teach within a prison, where AI is a non-issue. It's such a delight to work with students through difficult ideas and see them grow as writers. I wish I could do it still with all of my students.
I Used to Teach Students. Now I Catch ChatGPT Cheats | The Walrus
I once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit. That faith has been obliterated
thewalrus.ca
March 6, 2025 at 9:39 PM
This article is great. The concerns raised about the oft-suggested panacea of in-class writing seem particularly relevant. Learning how to write (and think) should be deliberate (often slow), and, with society devaluing it and LLMs offering shortcuts, how do we convince students it's worth doing?
Sometimes history is a serious, rigorous pursuit. Sometimes you read about a colonial official named "Mr. Mango Dick."
From Potukuchi Swarnalatha's interesting article "Revolt, Testimony, Petition: Artisanal Protests in Colonial Andhra."
(Possibly a misspelling for Mungo, but Mango is more fun.) 🗃️
From Potukuchi Swarnalatha's interesting article "Revolt, Testimony, Petition: Artisanal Protests in Colonial Andhra."
(Possibly a misspelling for Mungo, but Mango is more fun.) 🗃️
February 11, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Sometimes history is a serious, rigorous pursuit. Sometimes you read about a colonial official named "Mr. Mango Dick."
From Potukuchi Swarnalatha's interesting article "Revolt, Testimony, Petition: Artisanal Protests in Colonial Andhra."
(Possibly a misspelling for Mungo, but Mango is more fun.) 🗃️
From Potukuchi Swarnalatha's interesting article "Revolt, Testimony, Petition: Artisanal Protests in Colonial Andhra."
(Possibly a misspelling for Mungo, but Mango is more fun.) 🗃️
Turns out Lin-Manuel Miranda was right, just 250 years off. The republic will be saved by rapping.
February 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Turns out Lin-Manuel Miranda was right, just 250 years off. The republic will be saved by rapping.
You know the Ben Franklin quote about whether the sun on Washington's chair at the Constitutional Convention was rising or setting?
I give you the 2025 version: is this abandoned sign from the protests yesterday forlorn or hopefully persistent?
I give you the 2025 version: is this abandoned sign from the protests yesterday forlorn or hopefully persistent?
February 6, 2025 at 9:53 PM
You know the Ben Franklin quote about whether the sun on Washington's chair at the Constitutional Convention was rising or setting?
I give you the 2025 version: is this abandoned sign from the protests yesterday forlorn or hopefully persistent?
I give you the 2025 version: is this abandoned sign from the protests yesterday forlorn or hopefully persistent?
Move over, Odysseus's twelve axe-heads, the rightful owner of this estate is the one who can drive a matchbox car through twelve construction paper tunnels...
December 23, 2024 at 6:00 PM
Move over, Odysseus's twelve axe-heads, the rightful owner of this estate is the one who can drive a matchbox car through twelve construction paper tunnels...
My favorite holiday mug is one from my best friend that says "ohne Dich ist Weihnachten doof" (without you, Christmas is stupid).
December 13, 2024 at 1:23 PM
My favorite holiday mug is one from my best friend that says "ohne Dich ist Weihnachten doof" (without you, Christmas is stupid).
The fact that Discord insists that I am "playing" Scrivener really understates how hard the writing process can be some days...
December 10, 2024 at 5:05 PM
The fact that Discord insists that I am "playing" Scrivener really understates how hard the writing process can be some days...
I spent half my undergrad thinking that "the long eighteenth century" was a subjective descriptor, like "I had such a long week."
Happy anniversary to my favorite copy editor comment of all time.
"You use 'long eighteenth century' a lot in this book, but each century is exactly as long as another."
"You use 'long eighteenth century' a lot in this book, but each century is exactly as long as another."
December 1, 2024 at 11:34 PM
I spent half my undergrad thinking that "the long eighteenth century" was a subjective descriptor, like "I had such a long week."
2-year-old and I are stuck in the house with (very mild) pneumonia and going stir crazy.
I decided to let him practice his archeology skills. I ground up some cheerios to "sand" and buried some alphabet cookies in it. He had to dig for the cookies and then brush them off to read the inscriptions.
I decided to let him practice his archeology skills. I ground up some cheerios to "sand" and buried some alphabet cookies in it. He had to dig for the cookies and then brush them off to read the inscriptions.
November 28, 2024 at 1:52 PM
2-year-old and I are stuck in the house with (very mild) pneumonia and going stir crazy.
I decided to let him practice his archeology skills. I ground up some cheerios to "sand" and buried some alphabet cookies in it. He had to dig for the cookies and then brush them off to read the inscriptions.
I decided to let him practice his archeology skills. I ground up some cheerios to "sand" and buried some alphabet cookies in it. He had to dig for the cookies and then brush them off to read the inscriptions.
Reposted by Christina Welsch
Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Historian: The cup, 1789-1914
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Historian: The cup, 1789-1914
November 23, 2024 at 2:18 PM
Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Historian: The cup, 1789-1914
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Historian: The cup, 1789-1914
Hi, I'm Christina, and my course on British imperial history has too much history in it.
I'm David and I let my political beliefs into the classroom.
Hi, I’m Miranda, and I’m unpatriotic for not liking George W. Bush.
November 21, 2024 at 9:30 PM
Hi, I'm Christina, and my course on British imperial history has too much history in it.
I've never pre-ordered a special collectors' edition faster than I did @nkjemisin.bsky.social 's Broken Earth trilogy. It just arrived, and it is gorgeous. (And clearly my cat Zelda wants more installments.)
November 19, 2024 at 8:57 PM
I've never pre-ordered a special collectors' edition faster than I did @nkjemisin.bsky.social 's Broken Earth trilogy. It just arrived, and it is gorgeous. (And clearly my cat Zelda wants more installments.)