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Mara Oliva

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  • 100
  • Associate Professor in Modern US History & Digital Humanities Academic Champion

Digital Humanities Community of Practice Lead

Module Convenor: US Foreign Policy and the Environment: from Nixon to Obama

                                         The American Century

                                         The US and the Cold War

                                         The US and China in the Historical Context, 1882-1989

Areas of interest

I am a political historian and a digital humanist. I work at the intersection of history and digital technologies. My research focuses on twentieth-century US history, particularly the US presidency, Soft Power, Climate Change Diplomacy, the Environment, New York and Urban Heritage. I am also the University of Reading’s Digital Humanities Academic Champion. In my role, I promote an understanding of Digital Humanities as a discipline within the University, and the integration of cultures and principles from Digital Humanities into wider research practice. I lead the Community of Practice and provide mentoring and subject-specific advice for digital research projects

Postgraduate supervision

I am supervising PhD research on:

  • Aid, Oil and Human Rights: Re-evaluating U.S.-Guatemalan Relations, 1981-1986 (Richard Bolzano)
  • The Relationship between the United States and the Italian right-wing during the Nixon Administration (David Cardillo)
  • The San Francisco Ballet Company and the Cold War (Martha Hayakawa)
  • Representations of Race and Gender at the World’s Fairs and Expositions, 1983-1916 (Doug Stoke)

 

Previous PhD Supervision:

  • Spies, Civil Liberties, and the Senate: The 1975 Church Committee (Dr Dafydd Townley, funded GTA studentship 2015-2018)
  • Cultural diplomacy and the Anglo-American 'Special Relationship' in the Middle East (Dr Darius Wainwright, 2016-2019)

Teaching

 

Background

 

Academic qualifications

2012, PhD in United States Studies (pass, no corrections), Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, UK.

Awards and honours

External Funding

  • 2023, British Library Eccles Centre for American Studies Fellowship.
  • 2023, British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Follow-up Grant: Co-I for Project: Researching the felt and lived experiences of in/security: a methodological exchange.
  • 2021, British Academy, Co-I for Project: Researching the felt and lived experiences of in/security: a methodological exchange.
  • 2021, British Academy, Co-I for Project: The Vulnerability Studies Network.
  • 2020, British Academy UK-Canada Knowledge Transfer grant. Project: US Environmental Security.
  • 2020, British Association of American Studies/US Embassy Small Grants. Project: Women and BAME Women in US Foreign Policy.
  • 2020, AHRC/UKRI Engaging with Government Programme 2020.
  • 2020, Institute for Economic and Social Research and Policy, Columbia University, New York City, Digital History Fellowship.
  • 2017, British Association of American Studies Research Grant.
  • 2014, Scouloudi Historical Award, Institute of Historical Research.
  • 2014, European Association for American Studies Small Research Grant.
  • 2010, Fulbright Award.
  • 2009, Royal Historical Society Individual Research Grant.

Research Awards

  • 2020, Society of Historians of US Foreign Policy Global Scholar award for paper: “A Public Diplomacy Failure: Eisenhower and the US press in China”
  • 2019, ECR Research Output Prize (second prize) for Heritage & Creativity Research Division, University of Reading, for monograph: Eisenhower and American Public Opinion on China (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018)
  • 2017, UROP Supervisor of the Year Award, University of Reading
  • 2017, UROP Project Award for Heritage & Creativity Research Division, University of Reading (student: Beth Snyder)

Teaching Awards

  • 2021, Winner of the RUSU Excellence Award, Academic Tutor, University of Reading.
  • 2019, Nominated for the RUSU Teaching Excellence Award, University of Reading.
  • 2018, Nominated for the RUSU Teaching Excellence Award, University of Reading.
  • 2017, Nominated for the RUSU Teaching Excellence Award, University of Reading.
  • 2015, Nominated for the RUSU Personal Tutor Award, University of Reading.
  • 2015, Winner of the RUSU Research-led Teaching Award, University of Reading.

Professional bodies/affiliations

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Peer Review Editor: Digital Humanities Quarterly

Associate Editor: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

Book Proposal and Manuscript Reviewer for Oxford University Press

Book Proposal and Manuscript Reviewer for Palgrave MacMillan

Websites/blogs

Twitter: @maraolivaPhD

Impact and public engagement

 Appearances on BBC Radio 4, BBC5Live, BBC Radio Ulster, TRT

Articles for the Conversation, the Geopolitics, Corriere della Sera and Alem-Mar

Contribution to 2021, House of Commons, Foreign Affairs Committee, “A climate for ambition: Diplomatic preparations for COP26” report.

Publications

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