The Steering Committee of the Society for the Study of French History

The committee runs the day-to-day affairs of the society and frequently responds to requests and proposals from other organisations and individuals. Recent work of this kind includes providing views on archival policy and preservation; lodging concerns with libraries and archives over archive closures and acquisitions policy; lobbying funding councils (the AHRC in particular). The committee meets twice a year, once in January and once at the annual conference. Its membership consists of the trustees, the officers and committee members, including postgraduate representatives. Elections of officers and committee members take place at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Officers serve for three years (dates of election/re-election are indicated below, as appropriate). In accordance with the Society’s constitution, forthcoming vacancies are announced three weeks before the AGM. Nominations for vacant positions may be forwarded to the secretary, with an indication of the proposer and seconder of the application concerned.

 

Trustees: The trustees oversee the finances of the society, including the Ralph Gibson Fund. They also adjudicate in the competitions for the Postgraduate Research Grants, conference grants and conference bursaries, and also in the case of applications for the Overseas Scholarships award. They consult on matters of strategic importance to the society.

 

Current Trustees: There are currently five Trustees: Professor Daniel Power, Swansea University (d.j.power@swansea.ac.uk); Professor Penny Roberts, University of Warwick (penny.roberts@warwick.ac.uk); and Professor David Andress, University of Portsmouth (david.andress@port.ac.uk); Professor Munro Price, University of Bradford (mprice2@bradford.ac.uk); Dr. Jackie Clarke, University of Glasgow (Jackie.Clarke@glasgow.ac.uk).

Officers:

The Chair: chairs the committee meetings and the Annual General Meeting of the society (which is held during the conference); corresponds with outside bodies on behalf of the society. Current Chair: Professor Penny Roberts, University of Warwick, penny.roberts@warwick.ac.uk  [2021]

Secretary: organises the committee meetings and the AGM; acts as a conduit between committee members; publicises and processes applications for the Postgraduate Research Grants and the Conference Bursaries; assists the chair in the correspondence with other organisations; ex-officio, on the editorial board of French History. Current Secretary: Dr Luc-Andre Brunet, Open University (luc-andre.brunet@open.ac.uk) [2023]

Treasurer: manages the society’s finances; reports to the AGM and the committee on the financial state of the society; collects membership subscriptions; sends out the funds awarded to successful applicants for the grants and conference bursaries. Current Treasurer: Dr Karine Varley (Karine.Varley@strath.ac.uk) [2015]

Comms Officer: maintains the membership lists; helps to advertise the society and its activities; gathers and collates copy for the membership newsletter in the society journal, French History. Current Membership Secretary: Dr W. Jack Rhoden, Bishop Grosseteste University (wilfred.rhoden@bishopg.ac.uk) [2020]

Conference Officer: advises the annual conference organizer; reports to the committee on the performance of the most recent conference, on progress for the next one and finds venues and organizers for future conferences; liaises with funding bodies and other organizations over sponsorship and support. Current Conference Officer: Dr Ludivine Broch, University of Westminster (L.Broch@westminster.ac.uk) [2023]

Editor of French History: manages the journal; reports to the committee on progress in terms of copy, content, publication schedule, subscriptions and future plans. Current Editors of French History: Dr Claire Eldridge, University of Leeds (C.Eldridge@leeds.ac.uk); Dr Joseph Clark, Trinity College Dublin (joseph.clarke@tcd.ie). Associate Editors of French HistoryDr William Pooley, University of Bristol; Dr Erika Graham-Goering, Durham University.

 Reviews Editor of French History: manages the solicitation and production of book reviews for the journal; reports to the committee on flow of books for review and receipt of copy. Current Reviews Editor: Dr Stewart McCain, St Mary’s Twickenham (stewart.mccain@stmarys.ac.uk) [2018]

Editor of the Website: manages the website, liaising in particular with the Society News Editor, the Secretary and the Annual Conference Organiser. Current Website Editor: VACANT [2023]

Social Media Officer: manages a range of social media used by the Society, including Twitter and Facebook, liaising with the Editor of the Website and Secretary. Current Social Media Officer:Daniel Baker, Cardiff University (bakerd1802@cardiff.ac.uk) [2020]

All-Ireland Liaison Officer: acts as the principal point of contact for the Society on the island of Ireland with ordinary Society members and Irish historical bodies and academic institutions. Current Ireland Representative: VACANT [2018]

Committee Members: attend committee meetings; discuss proposals made by the trustees and the officers; consult on day-to-day issues as they arise. Current Committee Members (in addition to the officers of the Society, as above): Professor David Hopkin, Hertford College, University of Oxford (david.hopkin@hertford.ox.ac.uk) [2012]; Professor Glenn Richardson, St Mary’s University (glenn.richardson@stmarys.ac.uk) [2016]; Dr Laure Humbert, University of Manchester (laure.humbert@manchester.ac.uk) [2016]; Dr. Alison Carrol, Brunel (alison.carrol@brunel.ac.uk) [2019]; Dr. Sara Barker, Leeds (S.K.Barker@leeds.ac.uk) [2019]; Dr. Tom Hamilton, Durham (tom.b.hamilton@durham.ac.uk) [2019]; Dr Andrew W M Smith, Queen Mary, University of London (a.w.m.smith@qmul.ac.uk).

Postgraduate Members: represent the views of postgraduates to the committee. Current Postgraduate Members: Leon Hughes, Trinity College Dublin [2024]; Alex Summers, University of Strathclyde [2024]

SSFH Logo

SSFH Committee, July 2014

Independent Panels are convened to adjudicate the Society’s Ralph Gibson Postgraduate Bursary award and also the undergraduate Essay Prize.

Dissertation Prize Committee

Dr Laure Humbert (Manchester), Professor Glenn Richardson (St Mary’s)

The Ralph Gibson Award

Professor Kevin Passmore (Cardiff), Dr Sara Barker (Leeds), Dr Tom Hamilton (Durham)