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Olivia Mitchell

@livsmitch.bsky.social
38 followers 43 following 6 posts

Historian of the British Empire, race, gender and newspapers. Lecturer in Modern History at University of Manchester

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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Very happy to say that my new article is now published in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History @jich.bsky.social This has a been a long time coming based on one of my favourite sections of my PhD thesis. Please give it a read! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
‘The Smallest Monarch in the World’: Othering, Indirect Rule and Depictions of the Heights of the Begums of Bhopal in the Imperial Press, 1872–1914
This article examines how the imperial press promoted othering in its documentation of the Nawab Begums of Bhopal. While stereotyping was largely based on the racial and gendered categorisation of ...
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The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History @jich.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor John MacKenzie, a giant in the field of imperialism studies. We extend our deepest condolences to all who knew him. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2026/09...
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
Celebrating the life and contribution of John M MacKenzie - Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press remembers Professor John M. MacKenzie, founding editor of Studies in Imperialism, with tributes from colleagues reflecting on his scholarship, generosity and lasting legacy...
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Bodies, Emotions and Material Culture Collective @bemccollective.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
We're thrilled to welcome Dr Olivia Mitchell (@livsmitch.bsky.social), Lecturer in Modern History @uomhistdept.bsky.social, to the Bodies, Emotions and Material Culture Collective! You can find out more about Dr Mitchell's research, as well as other members of our Collective, here:
sites.manchester.ac.uk
Researchers
The Bodies, Emotions and Material Culture Collective
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Will Clement @historywill.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Call for chapters: "The Aesthetics of Modern Monarchies: c. 1842-1952" @livsmitch.bsky.social and I are inviting chapter proposals for a volume on the ways that global 'modern monarchies' (defined broadly) self-presented and were presented through visual culture. Full details below - please share!
Call for Chapters: The Aesthetics of Modern Monarchies: c. 1842-1952 (This volume is being
proposed as a submission to the Palgrave Studies in Modern Monarchy series at Palgrave
MacMillan)
This is an invitation for proposals for chapters for an innovative, forthcoming collection on the
connected aesthetic histories of rulers, royalty, monarchs and consorts. In 1842, the French king
Louis-Philippe I was the first reigning monarch to be photographed, with the British Prince Albert
photographed in the same year. Over a century after these first royal photographs, the aesthetics of
modern monarchies now had to contend with the advent of televisual media, which covered
moments of triumph as much as of weakness. The referendum on Belgian king Leopold III’s rule in
1950 and his abdication the following year was widely covered by the international media; just a year
later, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth Realms was the first monarch
to have their coronation ceremony fully broadcast on television.
Between these two moments of mediatised royal presentation, this was a period of seismic change
for royalty and rulers across the world who were subject to expanding and diminishing empires, the
threat of revolutions and nationalism, the fall of dynasties as well as the ongoing impact of wars,
trade and politics. Visual culture, including but certainly not limited to photography and televisual
media, became increasingly integral to the image of monarchy as the rise of new technologies and
communications shaped the way rulers were presented and could present themselves to broad
audiences, domestically and globally. This collection will assess varied forms of visual culture
during this transitional period, exploring the ways that royalty could be defined and redefined as well
as connected on a global scale.The editors define ‘modern monarchies’ for this collection as including absolute or constitutional
monarchs, members of royal families, emperors/empresses, deposed monarchs,
ceremonial/puppet monarchs and consorts. Studies of non-European royals are particularly
welcomed. This excludes histories of recent remembrance of these royals. Chapter proposals must
contain a visual component to this study inclusive of but not limited to:
• Photographs
• Paintings/drawings/illustrations
• Prints (including newspaper print)
• Caricatures
• Clothing
• Loot
• Architecture
• Coinage
• Cinema/television
• Theatre/pantomime
• Posters
• Medals/jewels
Studies on royals are inclusive but not limited to:
• Displays of gender
• Politics and authority
• Resistance and revolution
• Charity and humanitarianism
• Nationalism
• Colonialism and empire
• Religion
• Race and racism
• Succession, coronation, and
abdication
• Scandal and public image
• Domesticity
• Modernity
• Class/poverty
Please send detailed chapter proposals of 350 words and a 100-word biography to Dr Olivia Mitchell
and Dr Will Clement at aestheticsmonarchy@gmail.com with the header ‘Aesthetics of Modern
Monarchies’ by 1 October 2026. Informal enquiries may also be sent to the editors at this address.
Contributors will be notified of the outcome by 1 December 2026 with full chapters of 8,000-10,000
words due from accepted proposals by summer 2027.
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Get us your abstracts by 1st October! Please message if any questions, and of course, share widely!
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Get us your abstracts by 1st October! Please message if any questions, and of course, share widely!
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Call for Chapters!! @historywill.bsky.social and I are looking for chapters on visual displays of monarchy for our edited volume! Please circulate widely!
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Excited to announce our edited volume! We’re looking to bring together global, visual depictions of monarchies/royalty. Please share widely!
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Call for Chapters!! @historywill.bsky.social and I are looking for chapters on visual displays of monarchy for our edited volume! Please circulate widely!
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Excited to announce our edited volume! We’re looking to bring together global, visual depictions of monarchies/royalty. Please share widely!
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Finally published my controlled vocabulary and taxonomy from my PhD #digitalhistory doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
doi.org
The Begums of Bhopal in Anglophone Newspapers: Digital Metadata Analysis In The Field of Representation
This project provides a way of uncovering patterns and quantifiable results for newspaper analysis. Within this item are the controlled vocabulary list and annotation data for assessing newspaper depictions of the Nawab Begums of Bhopal. This project uses controlled annotations attached to segments of manually transcribed newspapers (pre 1914) to uncover results that can subsequently be used for analysis.
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Early Popular Visual Culture @epvcjournal.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Issue 23:3 is now available online, featuring visual responses to an 18th-century earthquake, transhumanism in the films of Georges Méliès, anti-capitalist critique in fin-de-siècle print culture, princely imagery in India, and Robinson Crusoe trading cards www.tandfonline.com/toc/repv20/2...
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Olivia Mitchell @livsmitch.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Super excited to say my article is out on newspaper reports of clothing of the rulers of princely states @epvcjournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
What are they wearing? The clothing of the princes of India in the British press and image making of imperial India in the 1870s
This article identifies the importance of clothing in assessing the representation of the princes of India for image making of imperial India. Using both textual and visual British newspapers as a ...
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