Professor William Foster
College Professor of History, Director of Studies for History and History with Modern Languages
I am a British historian educated in Switzerland and hold university degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Cambridge. I was formerly Keasbey Fellow at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and have been a Fellow of Homerton since 2007, also serving as Vice-Principal (deputy Head of House), 2013-19.
European History
My research asks how individual lived experience relates to large processes of history, especially imperialism and threats of armed conflict. My early career work concerned the English experience of captivity within the French-speaking world while in recent years my focus has been how Americans and Russians have perceived and influenced the course of imperial and superpower rivalry from the late 18th century to the present era. My main current research concerns the idea, experience and reality of armed neutrality and post-neutrality in Europe, focusing on the varied experiences of the Swiss, Austrians, Finns and Swedes. Finally, an ongoing research programme focuses on the history of military conscription in modern and contemporary Europe.
My current projects are:
- Russians and Americans: the connected history of two imperial peoples from the age of revolution to the present. (Book)
- The Ordeal of Neutral Europe: Switzerland, Austria, Finland, and Sweden in the Shifting Battlegrounds of History. (Book)
- The Conscription Map of Europe: Young People and National Defence in Times of Continental Crisis. (Research Programme)
Historical Tripos Part IB, Topics Paper: 'Europe's Modern Age of Violence, 1914-1949' .
Historical Tripos Part II, Advanced Topic: 'Connected Histories of the US and USSR/Russia’.
Please note: I am on research leave for the 2024-25 academic year.
