Miranda Clare Kaufmann (born 1982) is a British historian, journalist and educator, whose work has focused on Black British history. She is the author of the 2017 book Black Tudors: The Untold Story, which was shortlisted for the 2018 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize and the Wolfson History Prize. She is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (part of the School of Advanced Study at the University of London), where since 2014 she has co-convened the workshop series "What's Happening in Black British History?" with Michael Ohajuru.[1]
Miranda Kaufmann | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Miranda Clare Kaufmann 1982 (age 41–42) London, England |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, journalist and educator |
| Notable work | Black Tudors: The Untold Story (2017) |
| Website | www |
Biography
editMiranda Kaufmann was born in 1982 in a Jewish family in London, about which she has said: "I think it gave me an international outlook and curiosity about other people and cultures. It was also a hugely intellectually stimulating place to grow up. I benefited from all the museums, galleries and theatres; and just walking down a London street is often a history lesson in itself.[2] She read history at Christ Church, Oxford, becoming interested in Black history as a research topic during her final undergraduate year,[2] and going on to complete in 2011 her doctoral thesis entitled "Africans in Britain, 1500–1640".[3][4]
Since 2014, Kaufmann has been co-convenor, together with art and cultural historian Michael Ohajuru,[5] of the workshop series "What's Happening in Black British History?" at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies.[1] Kaufmann along with Stephen B. Whatley inspired the "John Blanke Project",[6] an art and archive initiative of which Ohajuru is the founder and director;[7] the Project celebrates and is linked to images of John Blanke, the Black trumpeter to the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII.[8][9][10]
Kaufmann has written articles for a range of publications, including The Times Literary Supplement, The Times, The Guardian, and BBC History magazine,[11] has contributed to features about Black British History on radio, television and video,[12][13] as well as appearing on Sky News, Al Jazeera and BBC Television.[14] Additionally, Kaufmann has participated in and spoken at many educational institutions, conferences, festivals and seminars internationally.[3][15] She advised on the Tudor episode of David Olusoga's 2016 BBC Television documentary series Black and British: A Forgotten History.[16]
Her first book, Black Tudors: The Untold Story, was published in 2017 by Oneworld Publications.[17] As Bidisha observed in The Guardian, the book "debunks the idea that slavery was the beginning of Africans’ presence in England, and exploitation and discrimination their only experience. [...] Along with writers such as David Olusoga, Paul Gilroy and Sunny Singh, and institutions such as the University of York, which has launched a project investigating medieval multiculturalism, historians such as Miranda Kaufmann are bringing England to a necessary reckoning with its true history."[18] Black Tudors was shortlisted for the 2018 Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding[19] and for the Wolfson History Prize,[20][21] and was also nominated as "Book of the Year" by the Evening Standard and The Observer.[14]
Kaufmann is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Liverpool, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Royal Society of Arts.[1]
Books
edit- Black Tudors: The Untold Story, Oneworld, 2017, hardback ISBN 9781786071842; paperback ISBN 9781786073969.
- Heiresses: The Caribbean Marriage Trade, Oneworld, forthcoming.[22]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Dr Miranda Clare Kaufmann". Directory of Research and Expertise. University of London. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b Pells, Rachael (13 December 2018). "Interview with Miranda Kaufmann". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Bio | Miranda Kaufmann". Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Kaufmann, Miranda (2011). Africans in Britain, 1500–1640. Oxford University Research Archive (Thesis). University of Oxford.
- ^ Moffat, Chris (16 April 2015). "Michael Ohajuru". Black British History. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Ohajuru, Michael (21 December 2021). "About The John Blanke Project". John Blanke.com. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
- ^ "Michael I. Ohajuru". British Art Network. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Lohmann, Silke (18 October 2021). "The John Blanke Project". London Art Week. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "The John Blanke Project: Imagine the Black Tudor Trumpeter | National Portrait Gallery, London (June 2023, permanent collection)". The John Blanke Project. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "The John Blanke Project In National Portrait Gallery Permanent Collection". The John Blanke Project. 21 June 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Ndiaye, Noémie (2018). "Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufmann (review)". Shakespeare Quarterly. 69 (4): 263–266. Project MUSE 723775.
- ^ "Black British History". Free Thinking. BBC Radio 3. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Africans and their lives in Tudor England". BBC Bitesize. BBC. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Black Tudors". Black History Magazine. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Dr Miranda Kaufmann". Gresham College. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Page, Benedicte (21 July 2017). "Miranda Kaufmann | 'I hope my book isn't the last word on this'". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Black Tudors". Oneworld.
- ^ Bidisha (29 October 2017). "Tudor, English and black – and not a slave in sight". The Guardian.
- ^ "'Black Tudors' by Miranda Kaufmann". The British Academy. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "2018 Shortlist | 'Black Tudors: The Untold Story'". The Wolfson History Prize. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ "Awards: SIBA's Southern Book Finalists; Wolfson History Shortlist". Shelf Awareness. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Cowdrey, Katherine (28 September 2018). "Oneworld acquires new book from 'Black Tudors' author Miranda Kaufmann". The Bookseller. Retrieved 16 November 2023.