JAMES A. CLIFTON
History Department
Boston College, Stokes Hall
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
james.clifton@bc.edu
EDUCATION
PhD Candidate in History, Boston College, 2011-present
Dissertation Title: “Logics of the Bomb: Anglo-American Nuclear Policy as Politics, 1976-1986”
Committee: James Cronin (primary adviser), Devin Pendas, Seth Jacobs
Comprehensive Exam Major Fields: Modern Britain, Transnational History
Comprehensive Exam Minor Fields: British Empire, Intellectual History
Languages: Spanish & French
MA in History, Boston College, 2008-2010
BA in History (Honors) & Political Science, University of Pittsburgh, 2004-2008
Certificate in West European Studies
Certificate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Honors Thesis: “The Malleability of the Law: Calvin’s Case in the Polemical Literature of the
English Civil War”
FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
Summer Research Fellowship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Boston College, 2014
Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Boston College, 2014
George W. Barnes Scholarship for Academic Excellence in History, College of Arts and Sciences,
University of Pittsburgh, 2007-2008
INVITED TALKS
“‘Children of the Grave’: Détente, Nuclear Weapons, and Britain’s Search for Power in a
Globalizing World,” Institute of Historical Research, University of London, June 16, 2015
“‘Some Misguided Frolic’: Britain’s Deterrent and the Containment of Germany,” History
Workshop, Boston College, April 17, 2015
“Building the Imperial State: British Power on the Indian Subcontinent, 1815-1914,” Boston College
History Core, Globalization II, Spring 2013
“Britain Goes to Africa: Settling the ‘Dark Continent,’” Boston College History Core, Globalization
II, Spring 2013
“Democracy and Violence: The French Revolution,” Boston College History Core, Europe in the
World II, Spring 2012
“Shadows of Empire: African Decolonization Movements, 1945-present,” Boston College History
Core, Atlantic Worlds II, Spring 2010
CONFERENCE PAPERS
“Logics of the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons and British Power during the Late Cold War,” Northeast
Conference on British Studies, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, Fall 2013
“London Calling: Britain’s Push for an Independent Nuclear Deterrent and the Origins of
Containment,” Mid-Atlantic Conference on British Studies, Pennsylvania State University,
Abington, PA, Spring 2012
TEACHING
Teaching Assistant, Boston College History Department
Europe in the Modern World I & II, Fall 2014-Spring 2015
Asia in the World I, Fall 2013
Globalization I & II, Fall 2012-Spring 2013
Europe in the World I & II, Fall 2011-Spring 2012
Atlantic Worlds II, Spring 2010
History Tutor, Learning Resources for Student Athletes, Boston College, 2012-2013