Montreal British History Seminar

Michael Collins (Associate Professor of Modern & Contemporary British History, University College London)

鈥淐ricket, Empire, and the Caribbean Remaking of Postwar England鈥�

How should we write the history of the 鈥淲indrush Generation鈥�? What can be said about the changing role and meaning of cricket as expressive of specifically West Indian identities in the twentieth century, including for the immigrants who settled in England after World War II? How has our understanding of cricket and its relation to identity been shaped by the wider historiography of anti-colonial nationalism and the post-colonial diaspora, as well as the outsized influence of the Trinidadian writer C. L. R. James? Finally, in what sense can cricket be said to have 鈥渞emade鈥� postwar England?

Now in its 29th year, the MBHS provides a forum for faculty and graduate students sharing a research interest in any phase of British History (very broadly defined). Papers of about 45-50 minutes or pre-circulated papers are followed by discussion. For information, please contact Elizabeth Elbourne (elizabeth.elbourne [at] mcgill.ca) or Brian Lewis聽 (brian.lewis [at] mcgill.ca).