Dr Alan James is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. He began his studies at the University of Alberta, in Canada, and received his PhD from the University of Manchester in 1997. He was a lecturer in History at the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester before joining the department of War Studies in 2002. He is currently the director of the MA in the ‘History of Warfare’, and among his other roles he is a trustee of the ‘British Commission for Maritime History’ and the reviews editor of the Journal of Strategic Studies.
Dr James received a college ‘Teaching Excellence Award’ in 2010 and in 2005 the ‘Best Young Academic Author of the Year’ award for his book on the French Navy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: The Navy and Government in Early Modern France, 1572-1661. He is also the author of The Origins of French Absolutism, 1598-1661 and is currently working on a collaborative study of European navies and warfare and on a critical survey of French sea power from the 1540s to 1815.
Dr James is heavily involved with the teaching side of the Department of War Studies, and frequently teaches courses in the War Studies BA and MA programs in addition to supervising a number of MA and PhD students. He is also one of the organizers for the British Commission for Maritime History Kings Seminars, which are held during term-time at the Department of War Studies.
In this interview, Alan discusses History as a practice. Topics include professional labels, first practices of History, those who have influenced his work as a historian, interdisciplinary study, and the importance of professional collaboration.
The file can be downloaded here
Technical Details:
Length: 21’27”
File Size: 12.9 MB
File Format: MP3 Audio
This podcast was recorded on a Zoom H2 Handy Recorder set for 2 channel 360° recording and edited using Audacity.
