Christina Welsch
Robert Critchfield Associate Professor of English History; Department Chair of History
History, Humanities Arts Creative Computing, South Asian Studies, Global and International Studies
Biography
I am a historian of Britain and its empire with a focus on India and the Indian Ocean in the eighteenth century. I am particularly interested in how in warfare and in the movement and experiences of soldiers in imperial armies. My current project compares the military networks of the British East India Company with those of its rival French corporation in the 1700s.
Areas of Interest:
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- European empires
- Colonial and early modern India
- Race/racism
- War and society
- Maritime history
- Global/transnational history
- Digital Humanities
Courses Taught
- Hist 101-01 (India, 1857: Deciphering an Imperial Rebellion)
- Hist 101-96 (Warfare in Global History)
- Hist 201-31 (Rulers and Rebels in European Empires)
- Hist 202-11 (Archival Research Workshop)
- Hist 220 (Tudor-Stuart England)
- Hist 221 (The Modern British Empire)
- Hist 224 (India in Global Context)
- Hist 288 (The Asian History of History
Selected Publications & Presentations
- The Company’s Sword: The East India Company and the Politics of Militarism, 1644-1858, Critical Perspectives on Empire, Cambridge
University Press: 2022 (https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108983112). - Read a blog post about the book here: “The Company That Lived —and Died—by the Sword.” Fifteen Eighty-Four: Academic
Perspectives from Cambridge University Press. 30 Sept. https://www.cambridgeblog.org/2022/09/the-company-that-lived-and-died-by-the-sword/. - “Our Brother Officers in India: The East India Company’s Military Lobby” in Redcoats to Tommies: The Experience of the British Soldier
from the Eighteenth Century, Kevin Linch and Matthew Lord, ed., Boydell & Brewer Press, 2021. - “Military Mobility, Authority and Negotiation in Early Colonial India” Past & Present, 249.1 (Nov. 2020): 53-84.
- Contributing Writer for Mark Doyle, ed. 2018. The British Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO
Awards & Honors
- Co-Winner of the 2023 John Ben Snow Prize (North American Conference on British Studies) for best book in British history (pre-1800) for The Company's Sword
- Runner-up for the 2023 Templer Medal Associated Book Prize for first-time authors for The Company's Sword. The Society for Army Historical Research (Britain).
- Shortlisted for the British in India Historical Trust 2023 award for best book on the history of British India for The Company's Sword
- Runner-up for the British in India Historical Trust 2023 award for best book in the military history of British India for The Company's Sword
- The Professor Russell F. Weigley Award for best paper in military history presented at 21st Annual James A. Barnes Club Graduate Conference. Army Heritage Center (2016).
- Princeton Institute of International and Regional Studies Dissertation Writing Fellowship (2015).
- American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Research Fellowship for dissertation research
(2013).
Want to learn more?
Interested in History, Humanities Arts Creative Computing, South Asian Studies, Global and International Studies or have questions about courses? Feel free to reach out!
Contact Christina