DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

Interests

Geographic Field(s):  Modern European History: Britain and Its Empire

Thematic Field(s):  Economic and Labor History; Colonial, Imperial, & Diasporic History

Principal Research Interest(s):  Media history, business history

Biography

Holly E.D. Swenson is a historian of modern Britain and the British empire, with particular interests in media and business history. Her research explores how the export of British media shaped cultural life and political economy on a transnational scale in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Her book manuscript, The Business of Culture in the British World, argues that commercial media, rather than state-driven cultural imperialism or commodity trade, was a key factor in developing and maintaining some of the cultural similarities of the British World. Her dissertation has been distinguished by the Association of Business Historians, Business History Conference, and American Journalism Historians Association. Her work has been supported by Harvard Business School, the University of Glasgow Library, the University of Western Australia, the National Archives of Australia and Australian Historical Society, the Midwest Victorian Studies Association, and CCHS.

Publications:

 Refereed Journal Articles

•  “A ‘High Quality’ Deal: the Business of British Comedy Television in Australia, 1960–1990.” Modern British History Vol 35. 1, 2024: 115–132.
  “‘The Vital Link’: British Print Media Export to Australia, 1853–2020.” Enterprise & Society Vol 26.1, 2025: 249-273 (published online March 2024).

 Book Reviews

•  “Business as usual: how sponsored media sold American capitalism in the twentieth century,” Business History, published online December 18, 2024.

 Teaching interests:

• Modern British, British Imperial, and British World History
• Modern European and European Imperial History
• Media History
• Business and Economic History