Alison Caroline Bashford, (born 1963) is an historian specialising in global history and the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

. She is Laureate Professor of History at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

and Director of the Laureate Centre for History & Population. Alison Bashford was previously

Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History The Vere Harmsworth Professorship of Imperial and Naval History is one of the senior professorships in history at the University of Cambridge. After the Beit Professorship of Colonial History at Oxford (founded in 1905) and the Rhodes Professors ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(2013–2017).

Academic career

From 1996 to 2009, Bashford was a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

in history at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. She was appointed Professor of Modern History in 2009. Between 2009 and 2010, Bashford held the Chair of Australian Studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. Moving to England, she was

at the

and a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

from 2013 to 2017. Since 2017, she has been

Research Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of History at the

and Director of the New Earth Histories Research Program. Bashford has also held visiting positions at

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

and

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. Bashford has published six books, including ''An Intimate History of Evolution: The Huxleys in Nature and Culture'' (Allen Lane, 2022) ''Purity and Pollution: Gender, Embodiment and Victorian Medicine'' (1998), ''Imperial Hygiene: A Critical History of Colonialism, Nationalism, and Public Health'' (2003), ''Global Population: History, Geopolitics and Life on Earth'' (2014) and ''The New Worlds of Thomas Robert Malthus: Re-reading the Principle of Population '' (2016), and has edited seven, including ''Medicine at the Border: Disease, Globalization and Security, 1850 to the Present'' (2006), the ''Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics'' (2010), and ''Pacific Histories: Ocean, Land, People'' (2014). Her current work focuses on cosmopolitan histories of modern earth sciences.

Honours

In 2010, Bashford was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

. In July 2017, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

for the humanities and social sciences. She is also a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New South Wales The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. The Society was established as the Philosophical Society of Australasia on 27 June ...

. In 2021 she was awarded the

Dan David Prize The Dan David Prize is a major international award that recognizes and supports outstanding contributions to the study of history and other disciplines that shed light on the human past. It awards nine prizes of $300,000 each year to outstanding ...

.Dan David Prize 2021
/ref>

Selected works

Besides a number of book chapters and

peer-review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed journal articles, Bashford has written or edited the following books:

Books written

*''Purity and Pollution: Gender, Embodiment and Victorian Medicine'' (Macmillan, 1998). *''Imperial Hygiene: A Critical History of Colonialism, Nationalism and Public Health'' (

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

, 2004). *''Griffith Taylor: Visionary, Environmentalist, Explorer'' (

University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university calen ...

/National Library of Australia Press, 2008). Co-authored with Carolyn Strange. *''Global Population: History, Geopolitics, and Life on Earth'' (

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

, 2014). * ''The New Worlds of Thomas Robert Malthus: Re-reading the Principle of Population'' (Princeton University Press, 2016). Co-authored with Joyce E. Chaplin. *''An Intimate History of Evolution: The Huxleys in Nature and Culture,''(Allen Lane, 2022). ''The Huxleys: An Intimate History of Evolution,'(University of Chicago Press, 2022).''

Books edited

*''Contagion: Historical and Cultural Studies'' (Routledge, 2001). Co-edited with Claire Hooker. New edition: ''Contagion: Epidemics, history and culture from smallpox to anthrax'' (

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...

, 2003). *''Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion'' (

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

, 2003). Co-edited with Carolyn Strange. *''Medicine at the Border: Disease, Globalization and Security from 1850 to the Present ''(Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). *''The Oxford Handbook of the History of Eugenics'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2010). Co-edited with

Philippa Levine Philippa Judith Amanda Levine, FRAI, FRHistS, is a historian of the British Empire, gender, race, science and technology. She has spent most of her career in the United States and has been Mary Helen Thompson Centennial Professor in the Humaniti ...

. *''The Cambridge History of Australia'', 2 vols (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 2013). Co-edited with

Stuart Macintyre Stuart Forbes Macintyre (21 April 1947 – 22 November 2021) was an Australian historian, and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne from 1999 to 2008. He was voted one of Australia's most influential historians. Early lif ...

. *''Pacific Histories: Ocean, Land, People'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014). Co-edited with David Armitage. *''Oceanic Histories'' (Cambridge University Press, 2018), with David Armitage and Sujit Sivasundaram.

References

External links

Alison Bashford's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashford, Alison Living people 1963 births Academics of the University of Warwick Academics of University College London British historians Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Fellows of the Royal Society of New South Wales Historians of science University of Sydney faculty Fellows of the British Academy Australian women historians Vere Harmsworth Professors of Imperial and Naval History British women historians