Inaugural Lectures (University of Oxford) S.
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In his lecture, Professor Winks examines the creation of the Harmsworth Professorship in American History at the University of Oxford from the proposal of the chair in 1920 to his own incumbency. Among the questions he addresses are: to what extent did the chair represent a typical post-World War I hands-across-the-sea gesture, and in what way has the chair reflected or contributed to the special relationship between Great Britain and the United States? What was the experience of those who held the chair and what difference did their presence make to Oxford? What have the complaints been with respect to the chair, and to what extent were they valid? In answering these questions, Professor Winks also explores two moments of alleged crisis for the chair, in 1954 when accusations of interference by the American Embassy were aired in the US, and in 1969 when matters relating to finances and housing placed the professorship in jeopardy.
Professor Winks maintains that both British and American historiographies would benefit from greater use of comparative methods of inquiry. This is especially true of that body of American scholarship that attempts to explain 'the rise of the United States to world power', a euphemism for the growth of an American empire. Few American scholars appear to have drawn upon European, and especially British, work in the general field of imperial studies; had they done so, such work as does exist within the American historiographical tradition would be rather less ideological in its thrust. Though the field of imperial history is sometimes said to be in decline, this is not the case: rather, the field has been fragmented into constitutent parts, with many scholars who fly under the flag of African, South Asian, or even Latin American history actually pursuing (though with a different vocabulary) issues that require comparative, and imperial approaches. There may well be a resurgence of interest in imperial history as a new generation of scholars come into their own. This book is intended for students and scholars of historiography.