Olivia Mitchell

I am a cultural and visual historian, focusing on press depictions of 19th century Britain and the British Empire. I utilise digital methodologies within my research, specificially using digitally implemented annotations to gain both a quantitative and qualitative approach to historical analysis. My AHRC funded doctoral thesis utilised this method to uncover intersectionality of the themes of gender, race and loyalty in depictions of the Nawab Begums of Bhopal, a dynasty of Indian queens under British indirect rule. I am currently working on converting this into my first monograph. 

Research Interests

I am interested in histories of the 19th century press, specifically in its depiction of gender and race within Britain and the Empire. I am also interested in developing new digital methods to facilitate analysis. More broadly, I am interested in visual histories of the 19th century. 

Biography 

After completing my BA in History of Art at the University of Warwick (2015), I began my academic career in history with my MA at the University of Manchester (2017) and PhD at Loughborough University (2021). I returned to Manchester to begin teaching as a Lecturer in 2024. I have also worked as a Research Assistant on two projects at Loughborough University, contributing towards two journal articles. 

Teaching

I have a large teaching repertoire, teaching on British, European and Asian history modules as well as experience teaching in art history. I am currently teaching on:

• History in Practice
• Imperial Nation
• Modern China
• Histories of the Islamic World
• Late Imperial China
• Transnational Europe
• BA Dissertation 
• War, Conflict and Culture
• Race, Migration and Humanitarianism
• From Cottonopolis to Metropolis