The focus of my research is on post-war American history. I have published on women’s history, the cold war, civil rights and gender and international relations.
I gained my first degree in Medieval and Modern History at the University of Birmingham and my Phd at the University of Nottingham. I have taught in the Department of American and Canadian Studies at Birmingham since 1998. I have published in my chief research areas, Gender and International Relations, Civil Rights, and Cold War Film. I am also the Postgraduate Director in American and Canadian Studies.
I have supervised postgraduate students on topics such as the history of oral contraceptive, the representation of gender in American musicals, Higher Education in the United States and the role of political machines in American politics.
Video transcript
Helen talks about her research into investigating the role of white women in Southern United States communities in the civil rights era.
Video transcript
Helen talks about her research into investigating the role of white women in Southern United States communities in the civil rights era.
Gender and International Relations
My PhD investigated the role of American women’s associations in the Cold War. This research was included in my first book,
Cold War Women published in 2002. I am currently interested in the internationalization of women’s rights which took place through the foundation of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nation. I am currently writing two articles on different aspects of the work and the early years of the Commission. I am interested in the way in which some women attempted to create international, or universal standards for the status of women, and the way in which this aim was challenged by some nation-states. In particular I am interested in the conflicted US position, which was torn between the desire to appear modern and democratic, and the desire to protect the special interests and needs of women.
Civil Rights
My interest is specifically in American women’s role in the implementation of Civil Rights. My research examines the activities of women’s groups as community leaders and as political lobbyists, investigating their beliefs and strategies through the civil rights years. My research demonstrated the inherent conservatism of women’s organizations who sought to preserve peace and community stability, even at the expense of ignoring the moral imperatives of the Civil Rights movement and the need for real change.
Cold War Film
My research in this area looks at the representation of gender in films in the cold War period. I am interested in the way in which constructions of American womanhood were contrasted with stereotypes of Soviet women in films such as Ninotchka and Silk Stockings, in order to make broader points about the differences between the two nations’ politics, society and economy.