Dr Alys Beverton
MPhil in American History and Literature (University of Sussex); PhD in History (University College London)
Senior Lecturer in American History
School of Education, Humanities and Languages
Role
Dr Alys Beverton teaches on a range of modules at Oxford Brookes. These include skills modules, such as Making History and Historical Writing, which introduce students to the methods, theories, and practices which underpin the academic study of history. She also teaches on modules which cover the history of the United States from the American Revolution up to the end of the Cold War in the late twentieth century.
Dr Beverton's specialist modules examine the United States within a broader hemispheric perspective. Her third year undergraduate module Land of the Free: Slavery and Servitude in American History, for example, explores the evolution of different types of enslavement and coerced labour practices across the North American continent throughout from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Meanwhile her forthcoming MA module Armies, Immigrants, and Gangs: The History of the U.S.-Mexican Border explores the fraught history of the international boundary between Mexico and the United States, as well as the experiences of the different groups of workers, soldiers, and explorers who have moved back-and-forth over it across time.
Dr Beverton has a BA in American Studies and an MPhil in American History and Literature, both from the University of Sussex. She completed her PhD in History at University College London in 2018. She worked in various teaching roles at UCL, Queen Mary University of London, and Cardiff University before joining Oxford Brookes in 2019.
Teaching and supervision
Courses
Modules taught
Undergraduate
- Making History: Teaches the key concepts and basic skills which are vital for historians and define the discipline of history as currently practiced.
- Superpowers: An International History of the Cold War: Modern international history that explores the rise and fall of the United States and Soviet Union within the context of an era-defining global confrontation.
- Historical Writing: Allows students to evaluate and write any kind of academic text, providing concrete help with dissertation-writing and enabling students to create their own project with expert support.
- American Giant: Examines America’s emergence as a leading international power within the context of the unique political and social order of the twentieth century.
- Land of the Free: Slavery and Servitude in American History: Explores how slavery in the United States began, what it meant to be among the enslaved, and whether their descendants have ever achieved true freedom.
Postgraduate
- Theories, Methods, and Practices in History: Introduces students to key methods and theories essential to the study of history at postgraduate level, as well as the advanced study skills needed for independent research.
- Armies, Immigrants, and Gangs: The History of the U.S.-Mexican Border: Explores the fraught history of the U.S.-Mexican border and the central role that the boundary with Mexico has played in shaping the American national identity.