Rosa Marks

DPhil Research Topic

The development of women's socially conservative activism in the US in the twenty-first century

Supervisor: Uta Balbier

My research examines women’s socially conservative activism in the United States in the twenty-first century. At the intersection of political, religious, and gender history, my research explores the activism of both white women and women of colour to better understand how a focus on gender and race may alter current understandings of modern conservatism and America’s political landscape more generally. By foregrounding the relationship between grassroots and national politics, I also hope to provide insights into the endurance of the Religious Right as an influential political movement, which mobilized behind Trump in 2016.

During my BA in History at Christ’s College, Cambridge, I complete my dissertation on conservative women’s resistance to the Equal Rights Amendment in the US from 1976 to 1984, which encouraged me to further pursue this topic for my DPhil. I also hold an MPhil in American History from Christ’s College, Cambridge.

Following my MPhil, I worked at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge.

My research is generously funded by the Oxford-Rothermere American Institute Scholarship at University College.