History is a key part of my life even in leisure time. I relax in museums, castles or stately homes. Another hobby is researching my family history with my Dad. Long countryside walks in Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and Norfolk are a favourite.
I attend Karate, Yoga and Pilates classes as well as running (well, okay, jogging!) and swimming. My ideal night in would be a decadent takeaway followed by a glass of wine and a detective drama: preferably Inspector Morse!
My teaching style can be summed up in three words: inspiration, collaboration, co-operation.
I believe that the best way for me to teach American History is by showing students why I fell in love with the topic in the first place. Enthusiasm is infectious and students can’t help but come on the journey of discovery. Admitting that learning is collaborative can be a shock for students as they find out that tutors do not have all the answers. The idea of learning and developing skills and knowledge together with tutor and student is a radical one for them to grasp, but bears excellent fruit.
American History offers something completely different to the sort of history that you studied at school. You may feel that you know a lot about American History because our popular culture is so saturated with American influence, especially through films and music. You may also have heard others say that American History is easy because there is so little of it. This naive view is just waiting to be challenged! I dare you to sign up for an American History unit and come and see what the complex and exciting history of the United States is really all about.
I am able to offer postgraduate supervision in any of the following areas:
My research interests are threefold. My recent book is on Colonial North America, especially the colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. I examined the way that representations of landscape impact identity creation through the medium of print.
I am also interested in the history of the book up to 1750 throughout the English-speaking world. I am Chair of the Print Networks Committee and the Book History Research Network, as well as co-editor of the journal Publishing History.
A new area of interest is in non-traditional slave holding. This project, organised with Lydia Plath and Lawrence Aje, questions the view of a ‘typical’ planter and examines slave-holding by free blacks, Native Americans, women and poor whites.
CM. Armstrong (2011). Books between Europe and the Americas. L. Howsam, J. Raven. In: Books between Europe and the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan,
CM. Armstrong (2010). The Extraordinary and the Everyday in Early Modern England. G. Walker, A. McShane-Jones. In: The Extraordinary and the Everyday in Early Modern England. Palgrave Macmillan,