Dr Stephen Bowman

Lecturer in British Political History

History D25, Pathfoot Building, Division of History, Heritage and Politics, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Dr Stephen Bowman

Contact details

About me

Stephen completed his undergraduate and Masters degrees at Stirling before going on to complete his PhD at Northumbria University in Newcastle in 2014. He has worked in the early modern period but has since largely settled in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In addition to previous spells working at Stirling, he has taught at Northumbria University, Newcastle University, Durham University, and at the Centre for History at the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Broadly speaking, Stephen studies the history of modern Scotland's place in the world. His current research focuses on the historical cultural and political connections between Scotland and the US, specifically through a study of the cultural memory of the Scots-born 'Father of the US Navy' John Paul Jones and another project on the transatlantic histories and historiographies of Glasgow and New York. He also has an interest in 'creative history', and led the research, writing, and production of the unique film and article '"An Unusual Period of Unspecified Length": A Creative Oral History of the Covid-19 Pandemic', published by UCL Press and first screened at the MacRobert Arts Centre in 2024. This project was 'Highly Commended' by the British Records Association as part of its competition for the 2024 Janette Harley Prize and was highlighted in newsletters by the National Archives, Kew, and by the Scottish Library and Information Council as among the most notable developments in the archive sector in 2024.

Stephen has conducted research across Britain and the US and has published on Anglo-American relations and politics. His 2018 book with Edinburgh University Press - The Pilgrims Society and Public Diplomacy, 1895-1945 - focuses on propaganda, cultural diplomacy, and networking between British and American elites in the first half of the twentieth century. Stephen has also published with the Journal of Transatlantic Studies, the Journal of Scottish Historical Studies, and History Scotland. He was the 2013 winner of the Transatlantic Studies Association's Donald Cameron Watt Prize.

Stephen is currently working on the following projects:

Co-editing with Kieran Taylor (Queen Margaret University), and writing for, the book project 'Portable City: Glasgow’s Transatlantic Connections.' This book is under contract with Peter Lang and will be published as part of the City as Place: Emotions, Experiences and Meanings series, edited by the University of Glasgow's Rebecca Madgin and Simon Fraser University's Nicolas Kenny.

Collaborating with Gyorgy Toth on the project 'The Memory of John Paul Jones in Anglo-American Relations, c.1900s-c.1990s.' This project has in in part been supported by a grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Assisting Jacqueline Jenkinson with her Royal Society of Edinburgh-funded project 'Parading the "Second City of the Empire" – investigating the motivations of Glasgow’s municipal authority in staging landmark imperial events, c.1880s-1930s.'

Divisional / Faculty Contribution

Divisional Chief Examiner

External Examiners and Validations

External Examiner, Institute for Northern Studies, University of the Highlands and Islands
University of the Highlands and Islands

Other Academic Activities

Academic Lead, University of Stirling COVID-19 Oral History Project
https://libguides.stir.ac.uk/c.php?g=530467&p=4844635

Advisory Board Member, Eco-Museum of Scottish Mining Landscapes
https://www.mining-landscapes.org/

Advisory Board Member, Scottish Political Archive
https://libguides.stir.ac.uk/c.php?g=530467&p=3628566

Founder and Co-Chair, Creative Histories Research Group, University of Stirling

History UK Steering Committee Member

Research projects (1)

The Memory of John Paul Jones in Anglo-American Relations, c. 1900s-c. 1990s.
PI: Dr Stephen Bowman
Funded by: The Royal Society of Edinburgh
–

Outputs (26)

Presentation / Talk

History and Archives in Practice summer lunchtime talk series: In Conversation with the University of Stirling’s Pandemic Oral History Project team

Al-Mulla R, Bowman S & Bromage S (2024) History and Archives in Practice summer lunchtime talk series: In Conversation with the University of Stirling’s Pandemic Oral History Project team. History and Archives in Practice summer lunchtime talk series. History and Archives in Practice 2024, 29.07.2024-29.07.2024. https://royalhistsoc.org/history-and-archives-in-practice-lunchtime-talk-series-now-available/

Audio

The Pilgrims Society and British-US relationships, 1895-1945

Bowman S (2021) The Pilgrims Society and British-US relationships, 1895-1945. [Podcast] 11.01.2021. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/cwdlancaster/episodes/The-Pilgrims-Society-and-British-US-relationships-1895-1945-with-Dr-Stephen-Bowman-elfjd9

Authored Book

Pilgrims Society and Public Diplomacy, 1895-1945

Bowman S (2018) Pilgrims Society and Public Diplomacy, 1895-1945. Edinburgh Studies in Anglo-American Relations. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-pilgrims-society-and-public-diplomacy-1895-1945.html

Book Chapter

'By hammer in hand all arts do stand'. The Protection and Projection of Craft Privilege in the Early Modern Scottish Burgh

Bowman S (2016) 'By hammer in hand all arts do stand'. The Protection and Projection of Craft Privilege in the Early Modern Scottish Burgh. In: Buchanan K & Dean LHS (eds.) Medieval and Early Modern Representations of Authority in Scotland and the British Isles. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 253-272. https://www.routledge.com/Medieval-and-Early-Modern-Representations-of-Authority-in-Scotland-and/Buchanan-Dean/p/book/9781472424488

Teaching

Stephen coordinates the following undergraduate modules:

HISU9B6: From Glasgow to New York - A Modern History of the World's Greatest Cities.

HISU9L7: ‘History’s Odd Couple: Britain, the United States, and the “Special Relationship”’.

In addition to undergraduate dissertation supervision (HISU9X7 and HISU9X8), Stephen also has teaching responsibilities on HISU9S3: Reputations in History, HISU9B1: The Making of Modern Britain, and HISU9X4: Back to the Future - Putting History and Heritage to Work.

Stephen is happy to supervise Masters dissertations (MRes Historical Research, MRes Humanities) and PhD theses on topics falling broadly within modern Scottish and British history from a transnational perspective, the history of Anglo-American relations, political and international elite networks, cultural diplomacy, and urban history in Britain and North America, and is also keen to work with students interested in adopting experimental and creative approaches.

Teaching

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Research programmes

Research themes