{"id":11571,"date":"2021-11-11T05:11:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T05:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/staff\/christian-oconnell\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T12:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T12:07:45","slug":"christian-oconnell","status":"publish","type":"staff","link":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/profile\/christian-oconnell\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian O&#8217;Connell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<section id=\"lead--2424\" class=\"acf-block acf-block--lead align    \">\n<style>\n\t#lead--2424::before,#lead--2424::after{background-color:!important;}\n<\/style>\n<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" version=\"1.2\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" overflow=\"visible\" preserveAspectRatio=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 117.99999 146\" width=\"117.99999\" height=\"146\"><g transform=\"translate(0, 0)\"><g transform=\"translate(0, 9.298117831235686e-16) rotate(0)\"><path fill=\"\" d=\"M61.26887,146h-61.26887l55.69763,-73.0111l-55.64577,-72.926l61.26887,-0.0629l56.67926,73.15169zM6.20468,142.6372l53.60471,-0.0518l54.30111,-69.73311l-0.06297,-0.08139l-54.23444,-69.99209l-53.56396,0.0555l53.31207,69.8626z\" style=\"stroke-width: 0; stroke-linecap: butt; stroke-linejoin: miter;\" vector-effect=\"non-scaling-stroke\"\/><\/g><defs><path id=\"path-1677255449551573141\" d=\"M61.26887,146h-61.26887l55.69763,-73.0111l-55.64577,-72.926l61.26887,-0.0629l56.67926,73.15169zM6.20468,142.6372l53.60471,-0.0518l54.30111,-69.73311l-0.06297,-0.08139l-54.23444,-69.99209l-53.56396,0.0555l53.31207,69.8626z\" vector-effect=\"non-scaling-stroke\"\/><\/defs><\/g><\/svg>\n\t<div class=\"columns is-flex\">\n\t\t<div class=\"column is-paddingless\">\n\t\t\t<p>Studying history is much more than learning dates and names. It&#8217;s about exploring, questioning, and interpreting the stories we tell ourselves about the past.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">Biography<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I am Academic Course Leader in History, and Senior Lecturer in American History. My interest in the subject began with African American music and the blues, which led to my first book Blues, How Do You Do? (Michigan, 2015). More broadly, I am fascinated by the ways American culture has travelled and shaped societies and cultures beyond the nation\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These interests have led me to examine representations of American culture in Britain and the experiences of African American GI\u2019s in Europe during WWII.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">Qualifications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BA (Hons): Geography, University of Leeds, 2001<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MA: American Studies, Kings College London, 2006<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PhD: History, University of Gloucestershire, 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PGCert: PGCAP, University of Gloucestershire, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>HOTCUS Article Prize 2022 for \u2018A Roman Holiday?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>International History Review Research Award 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fulbright-Elon Scholar Award (Jan-May 2016)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BAAS\/UCL Institute of the Americas Visiting Fellow, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BAAS Short-Term Travel Award 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eccles Centre Postgraduate Awards in North American Studies 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">Membership of professional bodies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Trustee of the European Blues Association<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">British Association of American Studies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Historians of the Twentieth Century United States<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Transatlantic Studies Association<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">Teaching &amp; Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-4 is-4\">Teaching<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian teaches American social, cultural and political history. His modules focus on the relationship between democracy and slavery from the Revolution to the Civil War; Reconstruction and the rise of the \u2018New South\u2019 after the war; conflict, capitalism and culture in the \u2018American Century;\u2019 and the African American experience in the 20th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-4 is-4\">Research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Primarily a cultural historian, Christian is interested in the transatlantic diffusion of American culture, particularly music. He has published on the representations of the American South on British television, and most recently on relations between African Americans and Italians during WWII. Christian has also worked on local history projects such as Cheltenham\u2019s Lower High Street: Past, Present &amp; Future. At present, he is contributing to Gloucester\u2019s monuments review by examining legacies of transatlantic slavery in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">Publications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"acf-block acf-block--reference no-mt no-mb       \" style=\"border-color:#a5a2a2\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"columns is-flex is-vcentered is-marginless\">\n\t\t<div class=\"column is-narrow\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"reference-icon is-block\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdisplay:inline-block;\n\t\t\t\t\twidth:24px;\n\t\t\t\t\theight:24px;\n\t\t\t\t\tbackground-color:#1ca691;\n\t\t\t\t\tmask: url('https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-content\/themes\/glos--parent\/resources\/dist\/img\/icons\/reference\/link.svg') no-repeat center;\n\t\t\t\t\tmask-size: contain;\n\t\t\t\t\"\n\t\t\t\taria-label=\"link icon\"\n\t\t\t\ttitle=\"Reference is a link\"\n\t\t\t><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"column\" style=\"color:#000!important\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>View Christian O\u2019Connell\u2019s publications in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eprints.glos.ac.uk\/view\/creators\/3407.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Research Repository<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-3 is-3\">External responsibilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian works in partnership with local organisations such as the Gloucester History Festival and Voices Gloucester developing community-based history projects that can be seen on the <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/cc4hh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cotswold Centre for History and Heritage website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent years, he was also an executive committee member of the European Blues Association, which looks after the Paul Oliver Collection of African American Music at Oxford Brookes. He was also on the Steering Committee of History UK, which is the independent national body promoting and monitoring History in UK Higher Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"heading wp-block-heading is-4 is-4\">Subject for media interview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>American and African American History<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Blues and African American Culture<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Race Relations and Politics in the US<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Studying history is much more than learning dates and names. It&#8217;s about exploring, questioning, and interpreting the stories we tell ourselves about the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":129000003323,"parent":0,"template":"","schools":[147],"subject_area":[],"staff_tag":[50,61,68],"class_list":["post-11571","staff","type-staff","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","schools-arts-culture-environment","staff_tag-being-human-past-present-and-future","staff_tag-culture-continuity-and-transformation","staff_tag-ohdedhum"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff\/11571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/staff"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"schools","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/schools?post=11571"},{"taxonomy":"subject_area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/subject_area?post=11571"},{"taxonomy":"staff_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glos.ac.uk\/staff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/staff_tag?post=11571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}