Andrew Smith

I am a historian of modern France interested particularly in ideologies and strategies of resistance, and how identities are shaped by interaction with the state. This has led me to look at wartime resistance, protest movements, and decolonization spanning the Second World War and Cold War.

My research interrogates the way that ordinary people engage in politics, culture and society, with a particular focus on where that engagement crosses borders, re-thinks the nation, and imagines the future. I am committed to research-led teaching and the challenge of introducing Anglophone students to global Francophone culture and history with documents, concepts and ideas drawn directly from my archival research.

I am a longstanding member of the Executive Committee of the Society for the Study of French History and has worked as an Officer of the Royal Historical Society first as Honorary Director of Communications and also as Honorary Secretary. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

I have previously taught at University College London, the University of Chichester, and Brunel University, London. I also recently completed a Degree Apprenticeship studying for a Master of Business Administration (MBA), building on experience of a number of consultancy roles relating to Strategy and Comms across the charitable sector.