Dr Chris Parkes

About

I’m a historian of U.S. political and diplomatic history with a particular focus on sexuality and LGBT rights. I completed my Ph.D. in International History at the London School of Economics in 2016. My thesis examined the life and career former U.S. Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles, using sexuality as a lens through which to interpret Welles’ decision making and political fortunes. My research explores how sexuality shaped political discourse in the 20th century United States and what that can teach us about the role of sexuality in shaping the contemporary world. Non-academic interests include playing board/video games, running, and maps, not necessarily in that order.

Teaching

Dr Parkes teaches the following course at undergraduate level in the Department :

HY116 - International History since 1890

Publications

2016

• "Book Review: Otherworldly Politics: The International Relations of Star Trek, Game of Thrones, and Battlestar Galactica, by Stephen Benedict Dyson,”H-Diplo.

2015

• “Dispatches from the AHA: Teaching Queer History,” Notches: (re)marks on the History of Sexuality

2012

• “Book Review: Sex Before Sexuality: A Premodern History by Kim M Phillips and Barry Reay”, LSE Review of Books

2009

• “Earl Finch.” American National Biography

Selected Conference Papers

2016

• Atlantic Charter 75th Anniversary Commemoration Conference, “The Atlantic Charter, Revisited”, St. John’s, Newfoundland.
• Historians of the Twentieth Century United States (HOTCUS) Annual Conference, ““‘Grudge Cases’, ‘Backyard Gossip’, and ‘Neighbourhood Malice’: Investigating Sexuality in the U.S. Civil Service, 1941-1950,” Middelburg, Netherlands.
• Annual Conference of the American Historical Association, “’It Takes Only One’: Transgressions of Race, Class, and Sexuality in Sumner Welles’ America,” Atlanta, USA

2015

• British Association of American Studies Annual Conference, “Imperial Outsider: Sumner Welles, Masculinity, and Creating American Foreign Policy,” Newcastle, UK

2012

• US History Workshop, “Bureaucratic Infighter,” Columbia University, New York City, USA

2010

• Masculine Identifications Conference at the University of Huddersfield,
• Spring Academy, “The Welles of Loneliness,” Heidelberg Centre for American Studies, Heidelberg, Germany

Awards

2015

• LSE Class Teaching Award, LSE

2012

• Columbia/LSE Exchange Bursary, LSE

2011

• Departmental Teaching Prize, Department of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science

2010

• Central Research Fund, University of London
• Research Travel Grant, Harry S Truman Presidential Library
• Research Travel Grant, Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library Research
• Travel Grant, European Association of American Studies
• Travel Grant, Roosevelt Study Centre, Middleberg, Netherlands.

2009

• Lacey French Travel Award, King’s College London