BGEAH (British Group of Early American Historians), BrANCH (British American Nineteenth Century Historians) and HOTCUS (Historians of the Twentieth Century United States) are pleased to invite participation in a new survey exploring the conditions of study, recruitment and employment within the field of American history as practiced in the UK.

The survey is open to anyone who is teaching or conducting research in American history, from the pre-colonial period onwards, at a British higher education institution, or who has recently done so. Postgraduate research students, early career researchers, and established academics are all invited to respond.

The survey will normally take around ten minutes to complete. It will remain open until March 1. Its principal purpose is to produce a broader base of knowledge about the social forces shaping the field of American history in the UK.

We would like to know more about who is studying and working in the field, what routes they have followed into the field, and what obstacles they have encountered – or are likely to encounter – along the way.

Over the course of the past twenty years, the community of American historians in the UK, in terms of both faculty and postgraduate students, has grown very significantly, through its constituent organizations and under the umbrella of BAAS. But size alone is not a guarantee of inclusiveness or representativeness. It is now time for the field to build upon its achievements in network- and capacity-building with efforts to make the pursuit of advanced degrees and careers in American history more accessible to all members of society. To do that, we need better information about current conditions.

Surveys are rarely sources of joy. The categories used will not always match the varieties of human identity and experience. There may be some questions that you do not feel able to answer. But we hope that you will see value in completing the survey as fully as you can and passing the link on to others.

We aim to produce a report on the results and recommendations for action by summer 2018. The report will focus on aggregate findings. Individual responses will remain confidential.

You can access the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/AmericanHistoryintheUK