Since its inception in 2017, the Engelsberg Applied History Programme (EAHP) has become a home for scholars seeking to apply historical study to contemporary political questions. In January 2021, the Centre for Grand Strategy launched the inaugural EAHP Undergraduate Fellowship Programme. This initiative brings together ten undergraduate students from the KCL Departments of War Studies and History. As a part of the year-long fellowship, students will be provided a bursary of £1,000 and will work with senior members of the EAHP to learn methods and approaches to applied history. Fellows will also have the opportunity to become involved with the activities of the EAHP and the Centre for Grand Strategy.
2021 Undergraduate Fellows:
Bronwyn Vanguardia
In 2020, Bronwyn completed a short course with Oxford University on Political Philosophy, with her prize-winning essay on John Locke and the social contract being published in the annual review of the Oxford Philosophical Society. Her favourite subject at King’s has been the ‘History of the International System’ since it demonstrates how domestic politics is shaped by international conflicts and vice versa. Bronwyn’s research interests include the Spanish and Chinese Civil Wars, Maoist China, Philippine Colonial Era & the Marcos Regime.
Bronwyn is from Melbourne, Australia and of Filipino heritage. She loves learning French and listening to ethics podcasts in her spare time. In her final year of secondary school, she completed an extended essay on the impact of Philippine nationalist movements on the Philippine Revolution, which encouraged her to connect with her heritage but also to recognise why history should be studied alongside politics.
Charlotte Bascaule
Charlotte’s research examines national identities, nation-forging processes and nationalism. She has written around British notions of national identities and its connection with the empire and religion. Charlotte is currently examining Latin American identity politics and plans to form her 3rd year dissertation around the subject. Other research interests include climate change policymaking, from local to international levels, and interrelated disinformation issues (cognitive biases, public opinion and political culture, fake news, ‘neotribalism’, conspiracists), especially in how these issues impact the public response to the climate crisis.
Charlotte grew up in France, in the Paris suburbs. She attended French schools, where she studied in a German-English dualingual class and then joined a European class.
Hasan Mussa
Hassan’s interest in history came from seeing the planes from Heathrow fly overhead. From there he traced them back all the way to the Wright brothers and got caught up in their use in the military, eventually leading to an interest in the military itself. Nowadays, the use of airpower from the Second World War to the Cold War is one of Hassan’s key interests. Machinery, equipment and scientific advancement throughout history in general are also research topics Hassan explores.
Aside from his studies, Hassan boxes and plays badminton (covid permitting) and hails from the village of Iver, Buckinghamshire, England.
Julia Bennett
Julia’s research examines the history and policy surrounding migration and regugees. She is particularly interested in the ways in which migration in Latin America intersects with Indigenous identity, gender and the fight for human rights. Julia is currently working on two major projects; the first is focused on the politicisation of Mayan refugees and how this changed their relationship with the Guatemalan state in the 1980s and 1990s. The second examines how diasporas are impacted by and respond to natural disasters in their homeland.
Julia came to King’s from her hometown of Canterbury, England.
Lauren Jacklin
The general area of history that Lauren enjoys researching is World War Two; however, more specifically, she finds women in the SOE and anti-axis resistance fascinating. The fact that many women in SOE actively wanted to be deployed to France, with limited legal protections as combatants, demonstrates their desire to resist. In relation to more contemporary interests, Lauren finds researching female involvement in terrorism also very compelling as these are another group of women who, until recently, were overlooked as valid combatants in terrorism.
Lauren is originally from North Lincolnshire, and now lives and works in London. She is a member of King’s College London Women’s hockey and also King’s and Alleyn’s HC. Lauren also takes part in Dark Age and Viking re-enactments where she displays ‘living history’ to the public.
Loic Chartier
Loïc studies both History and International Relations, and is interested in early modern Europe, more specifically on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in Western Europe.
Loïc was born in Prague, in the Czech Republic, having a French father, he attended the French school of Prague where he had the opportunity to meet people from different cultural backgrounds and horizons. To develop his mastery of English and broaden his knowledge base, he moved to London to attend King’s College London. He has volunteered at the NGO Amnesty International and had the opportunity to spend a month at the Czech embassy in Paris.
Marianne Mignot Ogliastri
Marianne’s research interests include modern European history and European relations; cold war history and various histories concerning political violence, oppression and power.
Lauren was born in Mexico, and grew up between France, Senegal and Belgium in a Franco Colombian family. Her interest in history was born from a curiosity for the multicultural environment she experienced, and its contemporary issues. During her high school and university years, she undertook internships in the press and journalism industries, however her concern for conflict resolution and social change also led her to work with the Colombian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Beyond her passion for humanities and social sciences, she enjoys writing short stories, poetry and performance arts such as dancing and acting.
Matthew Ader
Matthew’s research focuses on the intersection of climate change and French strategy in the Sahel, although he has a broader interest in Anglo-American grand strategy past and present. He also regularly examines military science and its various fictional properties.
Matthew comes from Bampton, a village in Oxfordshire best known for its Morris dancing and being a set for Downton Abbey.
Ranvijay Singh
Ranjivay’s research interests broadly lie in military history, geopolitics, and security studies, with a particular penchant for the Mughal Empire, the British Raj, and contemporary Indian military strategy.
Ranvijay is from the storied state of Rajasthan (meaning ‘The Land of Kings’), India. He has previously lived and studied in India and China, and presently resides in Switzerland. Aside from being an indiscriminate reader/student of History, he is an avid mountaineer and is correspondingly fascinated by mountain cultures.
Sophie Rasmussen
Sophie’s research examines late Imperial Russia and the fall of the Romanovs, specifically focusing on Nicholas II. Other interests include modern British political history, Argentina’s Dirty War, and the First World War.
Sophie was born and raised in Monterey, California before moving to London to attend King’s College London. At King’s, she has served on the committees of the Harry Potter Society and the Canadian-American Society and is an avid member of the Law Society, the History Society, and the Politics Society. She has volunteered for political campaigns in both the US and the UK and has spent time working in the office of her local MP.
