Caroline E. Shaw
Associate Professor of History
Associations
History
European Studies
About
I am a historian of Britain and the British Empire, with a particular interest in tracing how Britain’s distinctive, self-conscious, and often troubled role in the world shaped modern liberalism, rights, and humanitarianism.
At Bates, I teach Modern European history from the eighteenth century to the present, situating Europe in its broader global contexts. Key themes in my courses include: explorations of race, migration and difference; human rights; revolutions; sex and scandal; and empire and decolonization.
My first project focused on the development of refuge as a humanitarian norm. Britannia’s Embrace: Modern Humanitarianism and the Imperial Origins of Refugee Relief (Oxford University Press, 2015) traces the nineteenth-century development of refuge as a humanitarian norm.
My current research examines the gray area between freedom of speech and the protection of personal reputation in British law and society since 1700. Drawing on newspaper accounts, legal reports and case law, political commentary, gossip columns, and etiquette manuals, among other sources, my project focuses on the history of Britain’s peculiar defamation laws (slander and libel) as part and parcel of efforts to establish a greater liberty of the press.
As with Britannia’s Embrace, this project remains intimately concerned with the nature of people’s responsibility to each other, to community, to nation and empire, and to more abstract notions of justice.
Education
Ph.D. in History: The University of California, Berkeley; B.A. in History and English: Johns Hopkins University
Expertise
Current Courses
Winter Semester 2026
Revolutionary Europe and Its Legacies, 1789 to Yesterday
This course examines European revolutions and their legacies—social, cultural, political, and ideological. The French Revolution of 1789 brought unprecedented promises of reform to old Europe, introducing new democratic and egalitarian possibilities. Yet it also brought counterrevolution and new a…
Mere Words? Honor, Reputation, and the Freedom of Speech
Free speech has long been a centerpiece of modern, liberal institutions. Dictators have feared it, of course, but it chronically troubles democratic societies, too. Words have fanned racial and religious hatred and destroyed personal reputation, bringing neighbors to the courts over women’s sexual…
Short Term 2026
Wilde Times: Scandal, Celebrity and the Law
Oscar Wilde, an icon today, was popular in his own time as well. His relationship with Alfred Douglas was an open secret despite the fact that homosexuality was at the time a criminal offense. Indeed, Wilde’s sexuality was tolerated until he sued Douglas' irascible father for libel. This course be…
Fall Semester 2026
The Empire Strikes Back: The Ends of European Empires in the Twentieth Century
In 1927, Katherine Mayo wrote a scathing report on public health and religious custom in India; the study was meant to support British rule as a modernizing force. Indian women, among others, responded immediately, tacking carefully between outrage at Mayo’s argument for imperial oversight and des…
Historical Methods
This seminar refines students' proficiency as historians and prepares them to write their senior thesis. The course is designed around two interrelated goals. First, students analyze how different approaches to history and sources matter to understandings of the past. Second, students design and tes…