Conference held to honour work of Professor Emeritus Nicholas Rogers

An international conference held last month marked the work and contributions one of York University’s leading scholars, Professor Emeritus Nicholas Rogers.

Professor Emeritus Nicholas Rogers
Professor Emeritus Nicholas Rogers

“Crowds, Crime and Popular Politics in Britain and its Empire,” held on May 24 and 25, honoured the work of Rogers, a leading historian of 18th century Britain, and attracted scholars from Britain, Canada and the U.S.

The conference featured lectures by Professor James Epstein of Vanderbilt University, Professor Peter Bailey of Indiana University and Steve Poole of Bristol University. It also included contributions from former graduate students of Rogers and a contribution by Rogers himself.

In December 2017, Rogers retired from York University after nearly four decades of teaching. A Distinguished Research Professor since 2010, Rogers made significant contributions to York’s Department of History in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS), and to the wider University community in terms of service, teaching and research.

Rogers is the winner of some of the most distinguished international book prizes in British history, including the Jon Ben Snow Prize in 2012 for the best book by a North American scholar on British history for his book Mayhem. He has earned a prestigious international reputation and has contributed to the running of the History Department and the University, including roles as chair of the History Department, vice-president research and graduate chair of social and political thought. He also participated in many committees within the History Department and beyond.

His many graduate students have advanced research in the topics he pioneered, and for 40 years York undergraduates in history have enjoyed the lectures of one of the foremost scholars of 18th-century England.

“This was an international conference celebrating one of York University’s leading scholars, someone who helped give the University its reputation as a place renowned for research and a place where that research is communicated to undergraduate and graduate students alike,” said Professor Stephen Brooke of York’s History Department. “Over a career spanning 45 years, Professor Rogers played a major role in York obtaining and sustaining a high research profile at the international level.”

The conference was supported by the Department of History; the Office of the College Head, Founders College; the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies; the Office of the Vice-President Innovation and Research; the Faculty of Graduate Studies; and the Office of the Provost.