Kathleen Commons (she/her)
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
PhD Student (History)
- Profile
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Thesis title: Belonging, Rights, Participation: immigration and the development of citizenship in early modern England
Supervisors:
- Anthony Milton (Primary)
- Mike Braddick (Secondary)
Period:
1500-1800
Thesis abstract:
This thesis will explore the relationship between immigration and developing notions of citizenship in seventeenth-century England through the prism of the law. Despite the rich historiography of 17th-century English citizenship, the alien has not hitherto been placed in this context, even though contemporary thinkers were explicitly dealing with the issue. My thesis will explore the following research questions:
- How were the alien and citizen defined in seventeenth-century England, and how and why did this change over time?
- What was the role of the law in defining the citizen and alien, and to what extent was it accepted and contested?
- What practical steps did cities, parliaments and monarchs take and what rights did they claim to delineate and police the body politic - and what was the perceived value of keeping people outside or bringing them in?
- What links can be recovered between rights theory, and the practice and application of law?
- Qualifications
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- PhD History, University of Sheffield, 2021 - present
- MA History of Ideas, Birkbeck College, 2019-2021
- BA South Asian Studies with Hindi, University of Cambridge 2004-2008
- Grants
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- PhD scholarship: AHRC White Rose College of Arts and Humanities
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The Royal Historical Society Workshop Scheme
Funding for 'Beyond the 'good'/'bad' migrant dichotomy: ways forward for early modern and contemporary history' September 5th 2023
- Teaching activities
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University of Sheffield Teaching Assistant
2023-24 academic year:
- HST112: Paths from Antiquity to Modernity
- HST115: The 'Disenchantment' of Early Modern Europe c.1570-1770
2022-23 academic year:
- HST112: Paths from Antiquity to Modernity
- HST115: The 'Disenchantment' of Early Modern Europe c.1570-1770
- HST117: The Making of the 20th Century
2021-22 academic year:
- HST115 The 'Disenchantment' of Early Modern Europe c.1570-1770
- Professional activities and memberships
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Co-convenor Early Modern Migration Reading Group:
- Publications and Conferences
Conferences:
- Society for Renaissance Studies Biannual Conference 2023
Conference paper: "Englecerie/Forinsecus": bringing the law back in to the history of early modern migration to England
- TIDE On Belonging 2: English Conceptions of Migration and Transculturality, 1550 – 1700 26 - 30 July 2021
Conference paper: Immigrants in Stow and Strype’s Surveys of London
Blog:
- Royal Historical Society Transactions
Beyond the 'good'/'bad' migrant dichotomy: ways forward for early modern and contemporary history