Schooling for Empire, c. 1750-c. 1945
As part of an award-winning research project exploring the historical intersection of education, class, colonialism, empire, gender, and race, the Schools of Empire Project and the Institute of Historical Research are hosting a one-day research conference on 20 June 2025 at the IHR/Senate House in London and warmly invite proposals for research papers.
Schools and colleges were integral cogs in the colonial machines of western empires in the period c. 1750–c. 1945. A broad range of educational institutions, such as the public school, the grammar school, the college and university, the missionary school, the military training college and civil service examinations, all played complementary and overlapping roles. Informal education in the home also exerted an important influence. Schools and colleges facilitated the administration and expansion of empire by educating sons and daughters of colonial administrators, soldiers and politicians while they were overseas. They were also settings for the schooling of early international students in western epistemic traditions. In turn, educational institutions produced their next generation, propagating the ethos instilled in the classroom, on the playing field and through national Empire Days. Schools and colleges in “mother countries” benefitted in an array of ways: endowments, donations, reflected prestige, political and ecclesiastical endorsement. Artefacts and natural history specimens collected across the globe – intended to fulfil didactic purposes – formed the core of museum and archival collections. The connections between education and empire are deep-rooted, multifaceted and complex; they need to be drawn out and analysed in a careful, nuanced, and collaborative manner. It is the overriding aim of this event to bring different voices, experiences, and approaches to understanding “schooling for empire” into dialogue with one another.
Please note that only online attendance is available for this conference.
All welcomeThis event is free to attend, but booking is required.
This page was last updated on 10 June 2025
