I have a BA in History and American Studies and a Masters degree in American Studies. I received my PhD in History from the University of Keele in 1990. I have previously taught at Manchester Metropolitan University and at the University of Wales, Lampeter. At York St John University, my research and teaching interests have been in the areas of American social and cultural history, although I have taught a wide range of modules over the years, but presently focus on the topics close to my head and heart, such as the American Civil War, the myths of America, slavery in the United States and Hollywood cinema’s portrayal of urban America, race and ethnicity. I have also taught on the subject of American popular culture in Japan and Poland, by contributing to York St John University’s very successful distance learning MA in International Studies.
I have published articles on the social history of religious belief and nonconformity in Britain and America in the nineteenth century, and more recently on proslavery ideology in the United States in the antebellum era. I am currently working on an article on proslavery ideology in early nineteenth-century American academia, as well as examining the myths of America and how they relate to popular culture (I am working on projects looking at the neo-Western, and freedom and social movement, for example).
