About Summer Scholars Lunchtime Talks
Join us for two lunchtime talks.
Imperial Ties: Women and the British Empire
Misha Ewen discusses her latest book Imperial Ties: An Intimate History of Women and the British Empire. What do we see when we put women back into the history of the British Empire, and what does it mean to follow in their footsteps and write this history when you yourself are descended from women who were tightly bound with the story?
Talk two: Latin American Collections at the Library – A Counter-Guide
By mapping the Latin American holdings at the Library, Santiago Valencia Parra reflects on the questions and limitations involved in working with materials grouped under this geographic designation. He focuses on exploring the collections and on how this process is opening up new ways of thinking about research guides, their content, purpose and audience.
Misha Ewen
Misha Ewen is an Assistant Professor in History at the University of Sussex.
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She specialises in the early history of English colonization in the Atlantic world, especially the role of women and families in empire-building. Her debut trade book, Imperial Ties: An Intimate History of Women and the British Empire, was inspired by researching her own family tree in Jamaica. She is a 2026 Eccles Institute Visiting Fellow.
Santiago Valencia Parra
Santiago Valencia Parra is a curator with experience in collection research and public engagement.
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Before joining the British Library, he worked as Digital Curator for the Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research at the British Museum. He has also recently taught Latin American art history at the School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Essex.
About the Summer Scholars Lunchtime Talks
The Summer Scholars season of lunchtime talks is hosted by the Eccles Institute for the Americas and Oceania at the Library and showcases the exciting and wide-ranging research into our Americas collections by the Institute’s Visiting Fellows and associates, as well as Library staff.
About the Eccles Institute
The Eccles Institute builds, curates and preserves the Americas and Oceania contemporary collection at the Library and champions knowledge and understanding of these regions through a rich programme of fellowships and awards, cultural events, research training, guides to the collections and initiatives for schools.
For more information about the Institute and our collections, visit our webpage or contact eccles-institute@bl.uk. To see more events relating to the Eccles Institute, visit our events page.
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