Curriculum

CURRICULUM VITAE

Deborah Simonton, BA, MA, PhD, FRHistS                                                      e mail: [email protected]

Associate Professor of British History, emerita, University of Southern Denmark

Visiting Professor, University of Turku, Finland,                                                                                        

Current Research interests and activities

Leader, Research Network, Gender and the European Town, Early Modern to Modern, 2007–. My research involves investigation of the relationship between the development of European towns over time and the inflection of that development when viewed through the lens of gender. Recently published monograph: Gender in the European Town, Ancien to the Modern, Routledge, 2023.

Working girls in the eighteenth century: Gradually a historical girlhood has developed bringing girls into focus in their own right, yet important lacunae persist. This research complements existing research by examining the significance of girlhood in the lives of girls in the eighteenth century. It takes a primary focus on preparation for adulthood, linking it to their futures as working women, and it discusses girls’ alternatives exploring the spaces they inhabited during the pivotal period of ‘upbringing’. Dealing primarily with the experiences of British girls, it makes occasional references to the wider European scene. Under contract with Routledge

Women in Industry: a four-volume documentary history on women in industry, 1750–1914, commissioned by Routledge.

Education and Qualifications

Ph.D. (7 December 1988) University of Essex; ‘The Education and Training of Eighteenth-Century English Girls, with special reference to the working classes.’

M.A. (16 September 1971) Arizona State University. British and European History; Dissertation: ‘Britain’s New Universities: Twenty Years of Growth, 1945-1965.’

B.A. with Distinction (2 June 1970) Arizona State University, History major, Politics minor

Honours

Winner of American Society of Publishers, Excellence Award, Multivolume Reference/Humanities, 2020 for the Cultural History of Work, 6 vols. Bloomsbury, 2018.

Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (UK), December 2010,

Research Grant, Strathmartine Trust, St Andrews Scotland. October 2014-Dec 2014

Elected to Phi Alpha Theta, National Honor Society in History, March 1969

Elected to Alpha Lambda Delta, National Women’s Scholastic Honor Society, Spring 1967

Employment

Visiting Professor, University of Turku, Finland, commencing 10 January 2014 to present

Visiting Scholar, University of Uppsala, Sweden, Autumn 2019.

Visiting Distinguished Scholar and Professor, History Department, Utah State University, Logan Utah, 1 January to 30 June 2016

1 Sept. 2004-1 Feb 2016 Associate Professor of British History, University of Southern Denmark

Nov. 2010 Visiting Lecturer, University of Turku, Finland and for Medieval and Early Modern History Association.

Visiting Lectureships:

Mar. 2009 University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK

Feb. 2009 University of Turku, Finland

Nov. 2007 Bath Spa University, UK

April 2007 University of Manchester, UK

Dec. 2005, University of Flensburg, Germany

Nov. 2001 Helsingfors Arbis, Helsinki, Finland,

1991-2004  Honorary Senior Lecturer in History and Women’s Studies, University of Aberdeen,

Lifelong Learning Co-ordinator. 4 discretionary Merit Awards, and promoted in 1995

Degree Co-ordinator: MAs in European Cultural Studies, Scottish Cultural Studies

Member of Strategy Policy Group; Team Leader, Innovation and Development

Flexible Learning Co-ordinator.

Aberdeen Co-ordinator, EU Grundtvig project @duline Aug. 2002 to Dec. 2004 and Socrates/Grundtvig project. Aug. 1999 to Aug. 2002

Sept. 1995 - June 2002  Co-ordinator, Academic Skills. Responsible directly to Vice-Principals.

1985-1990  Lecturer in History, Hillcroft College, Surbiton, Surrey

Curriculum Co-ordinator and deputised for Principal.

1982-85      History Lecturer, Sutton Coldfield College of Further Education, half-time.

1980-82      Lecturer in Sociology, Crawley College of Technology, part-time.

1975-79      Head of Political and Social Studies, Whitefield School, London Borough of Barnet.

1972-75      Library Assistant, US Government Documents Service, Arizona State University.

1971-72      History Lecturer, part-time, Phoenix College, Phoenix, Arizona. (1.5 years)

1970-72      Teaching Assistant, Department of History, Arizona State University.

Professional Activities

Series editor, Routledge Studies in Eighteenth-century Cultures and Societies

Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Cultural History, Journal for the International Society of Cultural History

Expert Reviewer, Australian Research Council Grants

Expert reviewer for Swedish Academy, Linnaeus grants (large project grants)

Women’s History Scotland Convenor (1998-2004) and Committee member, 1998-present; currently Co-ordinator and judge for the Leah Leneman Women’s History Scotland Essay Prize

Member of Committee, Danish Centre for Urban History

Women’s History Network (UK) Steering Committee, 1998-2003, currently member

External Assessor for History Appointments, University of Copenhagen, 2008, 2012

External Examiner for History, Bath Spa University, 2003-2007

Women’s History Network in Denmark, member since 2004

Research Associate, Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies, Aberdeen University, to 2004

Research Associate, Centre for Early Modern History, Aberdeen University, to 2004

Faculty Planning Committee, Social Sciences and Law, Aberdeen, 2001 to 2002

Convenor, Working Party on Study Skills, Aberdeen, 1994-2000

Convenor of the Women’s Centenary Bursary and Projects, 1994 to 2004

Aberdeen University Women’s Centenary Co-ordinating Committee, 1993-94

Grants Awarded

International Conference Organisation

ESSHC and EAUH, several panels organised from 2008 to present

Gender in the European Town: medieval to Modern, 22-25 May 2013, University of Southern Denmark.

Place, Space and Environment: Historical Approaches, 6 March 2010, University of Southern Denmark

Gender and the European Town, two linked colloquia, University of Turku, April 2008 and Kolding, Denmark, June 2009, co-organised with Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen, University of Turku.

Challenging the Canon, Women’s Week International Conference, University of Southern Denmark, March 2005, Kolding, Denmark

Making Cloth(es): Women, Dress and Textiles, Scottish Women’s History Network Conference, 23 October 2004, Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama, Glasgow, Co-organiser.

Women’s History Network, 12^th Annual Conference, University of Aberdeen, 12-14 September 2003.

British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Annual Conference, Aberdeen, August 2000, Co-organiser.

Childhood, Poverty and Social Action, Group for Research in the Eighteenth Century, Aberdeen, 18 September 1997, Co-organiser.

Mackie International Conference, Women’s History: Scottish and International Perspectives, University of Aberdeen, June 1996, Co-organiser.

Women and Higher Education, Women’s International Centenary Conference, University of Aberdeen, 1993-94, Co-organiser.

Selected Publications (all peer reviewed)

Forthcoming

Routledge History of Loneliness, with Katie Barclay and Elaine Chalus, Routledge February 2023.

‘Voices from Lost Homelands: Loss, Longing and Loneliness’ In The Routledge History of Loneliness, ed. Katie Barclay, Elaine Chalus and Deborah Simonton. Routledge, February 2023.

‘Navigating the Gendered Town’, Ch 29 in Cambridge Urban History of Europe, v.3, ed Gabor Sonkoly and Dorothée Brandt. Cambridge, 2024. Accepted.

‘Luxury and Difference: “life’s little luxuries”’, Ch 7 in Cultural History of Luxury, ed Christopher  Berry and Jon Stobart, Bloomsbury, 2023. Accepted.

‘Inscribing the Town on Women’s Bodies: Public Health and Public Order in Eighteenth-century Aberdeen’, in Cultures of sickness, health and the body in medieval and early modern Europe, ed Anni Hella and Anu Korhonen, Amsterdam University Press, 2023. Submitted.

‘Working Girls: Girlhood, Mobility and Gender in Eighteenth-Century Europe’ in Women of the Past, ed Nina Koefoed and Rubina Raja, Brepols, 2023. Submitted.

Books

Gender in the European Town, Ancien to the Modern, Routledge, 2023

A Cultural History of Work, with Anne Montenach, eds, 6 volumes, Bloomsbury, 2018. ISBN 9781474245036. Winner of American Society of Publishers, Excellence Award, Multivolume Reference/Humanities, 2020.

Routledge History Handbook of Gender and the Urban Experience, general editor, Routledge, 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-81594-0.

Catastrophe, Gender and Urban Experience in Europe, 1648-1920, with Hannu Salmi, Routledge 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-69697-6

Luxury and Gender in European Towns, c.1700–1914, with Anne Montenach and Marjo Kaartinen, eds, Routledge, 2014. ISBN 978-1-138-80316-9

Women in European Culture and Society, A Sourcebook. Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-68440-8

Women in Eighteenth-century Scotland, editor with Katie Barclay. Ashgate, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4094-5046-7.

Female Agency in the Urban Economy, Gender in European Towns, 1640-1830, editor with Anne Montenach. Routledge, 2013. ISBN 9780415537292

Women in European Culture and Society, Gender, Skill and Identity from 1700. Routledge, 2011 (ISBN 0-415-21307-X).

Routledge History of Women in Modern Europe, 1700 to the present, editor. London: Routledge, 2006 (ISBN 0-415-30103-3), 397pp. (paperback edition, with revisions 2007).

Gender and Scottish History, 1700 to the present, editor with Lynn Abrams, Eleanor Gordon and Eileen Yeo. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006 (ISBN 0-7486-1760-4), 280pp.

Gendering Scottish History: An International Perspective, editor with Terry Brotherstone and Oonagh Walsh. Glasgow: Cruithne Press, 1999, (ISBN 1-873448-16-3), 280pp.

A History of European Women’s Work, 1700 to the present. London: Routledge, 1998 (ISBN 0-415-05532-6), 337pp.

Women and Higher Education, Past, Present and Future, editor with Mary R. Masson. Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1996 (ISBN 1-85752-260-5), 344pp.

Chapters

‘Gender, Power and Society in Western Europe, 1750-1914,’ in A Companion to Global Gender History, Teresa Meade and Merry Wiesner-Hanks, eds. Wiley, 2020, pp. 461-478. Print ISBN: 9781119535805.

‘”For the gentlemen of the town to walk on by way of exchange”: Gender, Space and Commerce in the Eighteenth-Century Town’, in Elaine Chalus and Marjo Kaartinen, eds, Gendering Spaces in European Towns, 1500-1914, Routledge, 2019

‘All the days of their lives’: the business of life’, Women in Business Families, eds Jarna Heinonen and Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen, Routledge, 2018.

‘Community of Goods, Coverture and Capability in Britain: Scotland v. England’, Gender, Law and Wellbeing in Europe from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, eds. Anna Bellavitis and Beatrice Zucca. Routledge 2018.

 ‘‘‘Sister to the tailor’: Guilds, gender and the needle trades in eighteenth-century Europe’, Early Professional Women in Northern Europe, c. 1650 to the 1850s. Editors Johanna Ilmakunnas, Marjatta Rahikainen and Kirsi Vainio-Korhonen. Abingdon: Routledge, 2017, 135-58. ISBN 978-1-4724-7134-5.

 ‘Toleration, Liberty and Privileges: gender and commerce in eighteenth-century European towns’, in Routledge History Handbook of Gender and the Urban Experience, 33-46, ed. Deborah Simonton, Routledge, 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-81594-0.

 ‘Gender and the Urban Experience: Introduction’, in Routledge History Handbook of Gender and the Urban Experience, 1-10, ed. Deborah Simonton, Routledge, 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-81594-0.

‘Surviving the Siege: Catastrophe, Gender and Memory in La Rochelle’, in Catastrophe, Gender and Urban Experience in Europe, 1648-1920, Deborah Simonton and Hannu Salmi, eds, Routledge 2017. ISBN 978-1-138-69697-6

 ‘”…to merit the countenance of the Magistrates”: Gender and civic identity in eighteenth-century Aberdeen’, in Nina Koefoed, Åsa Karlsson-Sjögren and Krista Cowman, eds, Gender in Urban Europe: Sites of Political Activity and Citizenship 1750-1900, Routledge, 2014. ISBN 978-0-415-858889-2

‘Milliners and Marchandes de Modes: Gender, Skill and Creativity in the workplace’, in Simonton, Kaartinen and Montenach, eds, Luxury and Gender, c. 1700-1914, Routledge 2014. ISBN 978-1-138-80316-9

‘Negotiating the Economy of the Eighteenth-Century Scottish Town: Female Entrepreneurs Claim their Place’, pp. 211-232 in Barclay and Simonton, eds, Women in Eighteenth-century Scotland. Ashgate, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4094-5046-7.

‘Widows and Wenches, Single Women in Eighteenth-Century Urban Economies’, pp. 138-70 in Simonton and Montenach, Female Agency in the Urban Economy, Gender in European Towns, 1640-1830. Routledge 2013. ISBN 9780415537292

‘Education and Work’, Chapter 6 in Liz Conor, ed., Vol. 6 A Cultural History Of Women in the Modern Age, of A Cultural History of Women, Berg Publishers, 2013. 119-44. ISBN 9781847884756

Children and the Economy,’ In James Marten and Elizabeth Foyster, eds, Vol. 4. A Cultural History of Childhood and the Family in the Age of Enlightenment, (1650-1800) of A Cultural History of Childhood and the Family, 6 vols.  Berg Publishers, 2010 (ISBN 978-1-84788-797-9), pp. 49-68.

‘Gender’ in Peter Wilson, ed. Blackwell Companion to Eighteenth-century Europe, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2008, pbk 2014. pp.27-46. ISBN 978-1-4051-3947-2

‘Women Workers, Working Women’, pp. 134-176 in Simonton, Routledge History of Women in Modern Europe, 1700 to the present, editor. (Routledge, 2006) ISBN 0-415-30103-3

 ‘Work, Trade and Commerce’, pp. 199-234 in Gender and Scottish History, 1700 to the present, Abrams, Gordon, Simonton and Yeo. (Edinburgh University Press, 2006). ISBN 0-7486-1760-4

‘Women and Education,’ in Elaine Chalus and Hannah Barker, eds, Women’s History, 1700-1850. London: Routledge, 2005, pp. 33-56. ISBN 0-415-29177-1

‘Claiming their Place in the Corporate Community:  Women’s Identity in Eighteenth-century Towns,’ in Isabelle Baudino, Jacques Carré, Cecile Révauger, eds, The Invisible Woman, Aspects of Women’s Work in Eighteenth-century Britain. London: Ashgate, 2005, pp. 101-116. ISBN 0-7546-3572-4

‘Bringing up girls:  work in pre-industrial Europe,’ in Christina Benninghaus, Mary Jo Maynes and Brigitte Söland, eds, Secret Gardens, Satanic Mills: Placing Girls in Modern European History. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004, pp. 23-37. ISBN 0-253-21710-5

‘A Marriage of Convenience? A View of Economic History and its Partners’, in P. Hudson ed., Living Economic and Social History (75th Anniversary Commemorative Essays). Glasgow: Economic History Society, 2001 (ISBN 0-9540216-0-6).

‘Gendering Work: Reflections on home, skill and status in Europe, 1750-1820,’ pp. 63-83 in Gendering Scottish History: An International Perspective, editor with Brotherstone, Simonton and Walsh, eds. (Cruithne, 1999)

‘Gendering labour in eighteenth-century towns,’ in Margaret Walsh, ed., Working out Gender, Society for the Study of Labour History. London: Ashgate Press, 1999, pp. 29-47. (ISBN 0-7546-0058-0).

‘Women and the [Scottish] Community: a challenge to education’, pp. 97-108 in Masson and Simonton, eds, Women and Higher Education, Past, Present and Future, (Aberdeen University Press, 1996).

‘Apprenticeship: Training and Gender in Eighteenth-century England’ in Maxine Berg, ed. Markets and Manufacturer in Early Industrial Europe. London: Routledge, 1991, reissued in Routledge Revivals, 2013, pp. 227-58 (ISBN 0-415-03720-4).

‘The Role of Apprenticeship in the Education of Women, 1750-1800,’ in ESRC Workshops on Protoindustrial Communities, Warwick Working Papers. Coventry: University of Warwick, Centre for the Study of Social History, 1987, pp. 64-84.

Journals and Blogs

Finding Margaret Morice, 10 May 2017, reprinted, Women’s History Scotland Blog, http://womenshistoryscotland.org/2017/05/10/finding-margaret-morice/

Finding Margaret Morice, April 10, 2015, North American Conference on British Studies, Blog, http://www.nacbs.org/blog/finding-margaret-morice/

 ‘Threading the Needle, Pulling the Press: Gender, Skill and the tools of the trade in Eighteenth-century European Towns’, Cultural History, 1, 2 (2012): 180–204.

Lead Editor, Women’s History Magazine, ISSN 1476-6760, 15 February 2002—January 2012.

‘Review Essay: Identity, Labor and Welfare: the worlds of work and family,’ Journal of Women’s History (US), 23, No. 4 (Winter 2011), 198-209.

‘”Birds of Passage” or “Career” Women? —Thoughts on the lifecycle of the European Servant,’ Women’s History Review, Vol. 20, 2 (Spring 2011), 207-25.

‘”Even some Ladies Talk with Facility about Oxygen”, Education for Women in Britain, 1700-1850”, Women’s History Magazine, Autumn 2007, pp. 11-15. ISSN 1476-6760.

 ‘Earning and Learning:  Girlhood in Pre-Industrial Europe,’ Women’s History Review, 13, 3, (2004), pp. 363-86. ISSN 0961-2025

‘Gender, Identity and Independence: Eighteenth-Century Women in the Commercial World,’ Women’s History Magazine, 42 (Autumn 2002), pp. 2-8. ISSN 1476-6760

‘Nursing History as Women’s History,’ International History of Nursing Journal, 6, 1 (2001) pp. 35-47. ISSN: 1360-1105

‘Schooling the Poor: Gender and Class in Eighteenth-century England,’ British Journal for Eighteenth-century Studies, Vol. 23, Autumn, 2000, pp. 183-202. ISSN 1754-0194

Biographical Dictionaries

‘Isabella Alexander’, ‘Jessie Mearns Buyers’, ‘Margaret McGhie’, ‘Margaret Morice’, ‘Hannah Robertson’, ‘Susan Trail’, ‘Agnes Traill Thompson’, Quinepedia, A Biographical Dictionary of Northeast Scottish Women, 2022, https://www.quinepedia.com/

Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Bury’, ‘Lady Mary Coke’, ‘Annie Hastie’, ‘Anne Hunter’, ‘Margaret McGhie’, ‘Margaret Morice’, 'Susan Traill’, ‘Lucky Wood’, The New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth Ewan, Rose Pipes, Jane Rendall, Siân Reynolds, eds. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018, ISBN 978-1-4744-3628-1, pp. 66, 93, 193, 206, 267, 325-6, 434, 462.

‘Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Bury’, ‘Lady Mary Coke’, ‘Annie Hastie’, ‘Anne Hunter’, ‘Mrs. McGhie’, ‘Margaret Morice’, ‘Lucky Wood’, Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, Siân Reynolds, Rose Pipes, eds. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006, pp.55-6, 78-9, 162, 174, 224, 272, 379. ISBN 0-7486 1713 2.

Lady Charlotte Bury, 1775-1861, Anne Home Hunter, 1742-1821, Charlotte Palmer, 1780-1800, Priscilla Poynton Pickering, 1750-1801, in Janet Todd, ed. A Dictionary of British and American Women Writers, 1660-1800. Totowa, N.J.: Rowan and Allenheld, 1984. ISBN 0-8476-7125-9, pp. 69-70, 169-70, 239-40, 260.

Research areas

Dr Simonton's main research interests are early modern and modern European urban and women’s history, particularly issues of work, education and childhood in the eighteenth century and the development of women’s cultural identity. 

Leader, Research Network, Gender and the European Town, Early Modern to Modern, 2007–. My research involves investigation of the relationship between the development of European towns over time and the inflection of that development when viewed through the lens of gender. Recently published monograph: Gender in the European Town, Ancien to the Modern, Routledge, 2023.

Working girls in the eighteenth century: Gradually a historical girlhood has developed bringing girls into focus in their own right, yet important lacunae persist. This research complements existing research by examining the significance of girlhood in the lives of girls in the eighteenth century. It takes a primary focus on preparation for adulthood, linking it to their futures as working women, and it discusses girls’ alternatives exploring the spaces they inhabited during the pivotal period of ‘upbringing’. Dealing primarily with the experiences of British girls, it makes occasional references to the wider European scene. Under contract with Routledge

Women in Industry: a four-volume documentary history on women in industry, 1750–1914, commissioned by Routledge.