Dr Caroline Ritter

She received her Ph.D. in British History from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. Her book, Imperial Encore: The Cultural Project of the Late British Empire (University of California Press, 2021), examines the history of British cultural relations in Africa during the twentieth century. The study is based on archival research in Britain, Kenya, Ghana, and the United States, and looks closely at the activities of well-known British institutions such as the BBC, the British Council, and private publishing firms in East and West Africa. In 2022, the book received Honorable Mention for the Stansky Book Prize in British Studies since 1800 (awarded by the North American Conference on British Studies).

Dr Ritter’s current research centers on the dynamics of British decolonisation and its role in contemporary global relationships. She is currently working on a book monograph titled Language Lessons: The English Language Teaching Industry in Britain that examines the array of British and overseas industries that grew around English-language teaching (sometimes referred to as ELT or ESOL) and the associated effects they had on British economic, immigration, and security policies since 1945. At Texas State University, Dr. Ritter teaches courses in Modern British and Modern African History.

During their IAS Fellowship, Dr Ritter is collaborating with Dr Marcus Collins, Dr Poppy Cullen & Dr Peter Yeandle from the School of Social Sciences and Humanities.