ePortfolio of Anna Pravdica

Research

My doctoral thesis, 'Sincerity, Deceit, and Social Identity in Britain, 1640–1740', is supervised by Dr Naomi PullinLink opens in a new window, Professor Mark KnightsLink opens in a new window, and Professor Kate LovemanLink opens in a new window (University of Leicester), and funded by the AHRC-Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training PartnershipLink opens in a new window. It investigates the religious, social, and political contexts that influenced contemporary ideas about sincerity and deceit in early modern Britain, and how these attitudes were linked to categories of identity such as rank, gender, and race. By exploring how these cultural contexts affected the everyday environments of family, friendship, community, and polity amongst non-elite people of the lower and middling sorts, it aims to construct a social history of sincerity 'from below'.

More broadly, my research interests include:

17th- and 18th-century print culture
Work, social status, and identity
Religious history and popular piety
Family, friendship, and community
Early modern crime and legal history
The history of emotions

Publications

Articles & Chapters (peer-reviewed)

'True Crime in the Archives: The Eighteenth-Century Old Bailey and the Emotions of Sensationalism', in Archives and Emotions: International Dialogues Across Past, Present, and FutureLink opens in a new window, Bloomsbury Academic's History of EmotionsLink opens in a new window series (November 2024)
'"See sincerity sparkle in thy practice": Antidotes to Hypocrisy in British Print Sermons, 1640–1695Link opens in a new window', in the 'Church, Hypocrisy and DissimulationLink opens in a new window' volume of Studies in Church HistoryLink opens in a new window (June 2024)

Online Publications

'Sincerity', in 'KeywordsLink opens in a new window', King's College London Centre for Early Modern Studies 'KeyLink opens in a new window' blog series (forthcoming 2024)
'Room for the Cobler of Gloucester and His WifeLink opens in a new window', in 'Key TextsLink opens in a new window', King's College London Centre for Early Modern Studies 'KeyLink opens in a new window' blog series (August 2023)

Book Reviews

'Pravdica on Schwartz, Unmoored: The Search for Sincerity in Colonial AmericaLink opens in a new window', for the H-Net Humanities and Social Sciences OnlineLink opens in a new window network H-Early-AmericaLink opens in a new window (December 2023)

Reports

'Refashioning the Seventeenth-Century Self: A Case Study of John Taylor the Water PoetLink opens in a new window', for Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies workshopLink opens in a new window and Warwick-Newberry Research FellowshipLink opens in a new window (April 2023)

Conferences & Papers

'Honesty, Hypocrisy, and Radical Belief in Post-Restoration England', Bangor Conference on the RestorationLink opens in a new window, University of Bangor, July 2024
'Honest Cobblers and Barbarous Shoemakers: Authenticity and Occupational Identity in Seventeenth-Century England', Social History SocietyLink opens in a new window, Durham University, July 2024
'The Barber's Daughter: Seventeenth-Century Occupational Identity and Aphra Behn's Social Origins', Aphra Behn and Her RestorationLink opens in a new window, Eighth International Conference of the Aphra Behn Europe SocietyLink opens in a new window, University of Kent, July 2024
'A Social and Emotional History of Sincerity in Early Modern Britain', North American Chapter on the History of Emotion, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, June 2024
'Sincerity, Deceit, and Occupational Identity in Seventeenth-Century Britain', British History in the Seventeenth CenturyLink opens in a new window seminar, Institute of Historical Research, March 2024
'Annesley v. Anglesea and Douglas v. Hamilton: Social Uncertainty and Emotional Anxiety in Eighteenth-Century British Filiation Cases', Unsettling CertaintiesLink opens in a new window, Fourth Biennial Conference of the Society for the History of EmotionsLink opens in a new window, University of Adelaide, December 2023
'"The honour of a Lord Bishop, and the honour of a cobler": The Dissenting Pamphlet Literature and Marginal Nonconformity of Ralph Wallis, 1662–1668', Margins and PeripheriesLink opens in a new window, Ecclesiastical History SocietyLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, July 2023
'"Oaths of the Many Great and Worthy Persons by Whom They Were Regarded": Politically Potent Sociability in the Douglas Cause', Sociability in Politics, Food and Travel in the Early Modern EraLink opens in a new window, EMECCLink opens in a new window and GIS SociabilitésLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, June 2023
'Printed English Sermons on Sincerity and Hypocrisy, 1640–1695', The Church and HypocrisyLink opens in a new window, Ecclesiastical History SocietyLink opens in a new window, January 2023
'Letters to the Spectator: An Early Eighteenth-Century Periodical's Project of Emotional Refuge and Education', EMECCLink opens in a new window Work-in-Progress, University of Warwick, October 2022
'True Crime in the Archives: Researching and Feeling the Eighteenth-Century Old Bailey'Link opens in a new window, Archives and EmotionsLink opens in a new window, Aston University, Birmingham and University of Malta, October 2022
'Letters to the Spectator: An Emotional Community of Early Eighteenth-Century Readers", North American Chapter on the History of EmotionLink opens in a new window, George Mason University, June 2022
'"Wild and Incoherent in Her Desires": Fantomina and the Passions in Early Eighteenth-Century England', Eliza Haywood: 300 Years of Love in ExcessLink opens in a new window, Purdue University, April 2019

Teaching

Seminar Tutor, Deviance and Nonconformity in Early Modern EuropeLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2024–2025
Seminar Tutor, Europe in the Making, 1450–1800Link opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2024–2025
Seminar Tutor, Historiography I: Methods and Theories in Their Historical Context, 1750–c.1990Link opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023–2024
Academic and Professional Pathway for Postgraduate Researchers who Teach (APP PGR)Link opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023–2024
Visiting Honours Scholar and Teaching Assistant, Suffolk University History, Language, & Global Culture DepartmentLink opens in a new window, 2021–2022
Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Teacher, Mummu AcademyLink opens in a new window and others, Florence, Italy, 2020–2022

Responsibilities & Experience

Co-Organiser, Being Human: Individualism and the Self from the Renaissance to the 21st-CenturyLink opens in a new window conference with Mia EdwardsLink opens in a new window and Himesh MehtaLink opens in a new window for the HRC Doctoral Fellowship CompetitionLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, February 2025
Co-Convener, History PG Work in ProgressLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023–present
Co-Coordinator, Early Modern and Eighteenth Century CentreLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023–present
History PGR Student RepresentativeLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023–present
Council Member and Communications Officer, North American Chapter on the History of EmotionLink opens in a new window, 2022–present
Editor and Indexer, Forensic Storytelling and the Literary Roots of Early Modern Feminism by Barbara Abrams, forthcoming Routledge Focus on LiteratureLink opens in a new window, 2022–2023
Committee Member & Organiser, History Postgraduate ConferenceLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, May 2023
Assistant Organiser & Panel Chair, Emotion, Sense, Experience in British Art and ArchitectureLink opens in a new window conference, sponsored by the North American Chapter on the History of EmotionLink opens in a new window, June 2023
Editor and Indexer, Reframing Rousseau’s 'Levite d’Ephraim': The Hebrew Bible, Hospitality, and Modern IdentityLink opens in a new window co-authored by Barbara Abrams, Mira Morgenstern, and Karen Sullivan, Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment, 2019–2020
Research Assistantship, Suffolk University English DepartmentLink opens in a new window, 2018–2019

Public Engagement

'Legal and Judicial SourcesLink opens in a new window' session for 'Researching Ordinary People of the Early Modern PeriodLink opens in a new window' workshop series, in collaboration with Dr Naomi Pullin and the Lord Leycester HospitalLink opens in a new window, March 2024
'Ecclesiastical Sources, Wills, and Family PapersLink opens in a new window' session for 'Researching Ordinary People of the Early Modern PeriodLink opens in a new window' workshop series, in collaboration with Dr Naomi Pullin, Kristi Flake, and the Lord Leycester Hospital, March 2024
'How to Get to Heaven in Early Modern England', Nuneaton Historical AssociationLink opens in a new window, co-speaker with Kristi Flake (University of Warwick), December 2023
Museum Educator, Gibson House MuseumLink opens in a new window, 2016–2019
Education Intern, Shirley-Eustis House MuseumLink opens in a new window, 2016

Funding & Awards

Doctoral Fellowship CompetitionLink opens in a new window in collaboration with Mia EdwardsLink opens in a new window and Himesh MehtaLink opens in a new window, Humanities Research CentreLink opens in a new window, 2024–2025
UKRI-AHRC International Placement Scheme (IPS) FellowshipLink opens in a new window at the Huntington LibraryLink opens in a new window, April–June 2024
M4C Research Development Fund to present at Ecclesiastical History Society'sLink opens in a new window Margins and PeripheriesLink opens in a new window conference, July 2023
M4C Research Development Fund to conduct research at the National Archives and Parliamentary Archives, May 2023
Warwick-Newberry Research Fellow, Newberry Library Consortium GrantLink opens in a new window, Centre for the Study of the RenaissanceLink opens in a new window, April 2023 read report hereLink opens in a new window
M4C Research Development Fund to conduct research and attend workshop, 'Refashioning the Seventeenth-Century Self: A Case Study of John Taylor the Water PoetLink opens in a new window', Newberry Library, April 2023
M4C Engagement Fund for English PalaeographyLink opens in a new window, October 2022
AHRC Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, University of Warwick, 2022–2026
The Fennell Masters Scholarship, University of Edinburgh, 2019–2020
Conference Student Support Fund, University of Edinburgh, 2019
Departmental Distinction in History Award, Suffolk University, 2019
English Department Recognition Day Scholarship, Suffolk University, 2019
College of Arts and Science Honours Travel and Research Fellowship, Suffolk University, 2019
History Department Travel and Research Funding, Suffolk University, 2019
U.S. Department of State Benjamin A. Gilman International ScholarshipLink opens in a new window, Florence University of the Arts, Italy, 2018
Peter Caputo Memorial Scholarship for Academic Excellence in English, Suffolk University, 2018
Stanley M. Vogel Scholarship, Suffolk University, 2018

Academic Profile

2022-2026, PhD History, University of Warwick

Thesis: 'Sincerity, Deceit, and Social Identity in Britain, 1640–1740', supervised by Dr Naomi Pullin, Professor Mark Knights, and Professor Kate Loveman
Funded by the AHRC Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership

2019-2020, MSc History, University of Edinburgh (Distinction)

Dissertation: 'Feelings, Family, and Community in English Witchcraft Pamphlets and Plays, 1566–1634,' supervised by Professor Adam Fox
Funded by the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology's Fennell Masters Scholarship

2015-2019, BA History & Literature Honours, Suffolk University, Boston (First Class)

Minors in Classics and Women’s & Gender Studies
Dissertation: '“Aids from Nature, Join’d to the Wiles of Art”: Emotional, Social, and Theatrical Performance in Eliza Haywood’s “Fantomina” and Early Eighteenth-Century England,' supervised by Professor Michèle Plott and Professor Hannah Hudson

Courses & Qualifications

Academic and Professional Pathway for Postgraduate Researchers who Teach (APP PGR)Link opens in a new window, University of Warwick, 2023–2024
Archival Skills Training in Early Modern Legal Records, PAST Records WorkshopLink opens in a new window, National Archives, Summer 2023
Early Modern English Palaeography, Centre for the Study of the RenaissanceLink opens in a new window, University of Warwick, Autumn 2022
Teaching English as a Foreign Language Certification, International TEFL AcademyLink opens in a new window, Chicago, Summer 2020
Intensive Italian Language, Florence University of the ArtsLink opens in a new window, Italy, Summer 2018

Memberships

Additional Honours & Prizes

Excellence in Honours Award for an Outstanding Senior Project in the Humanities Division, Suffolk University, 2019
Excellence in Honours Award for an Outstanding Senior Project in History and Literature, Suffolk University, 2019
George J. Levy History Prize, Suffolk University, 2019
Women’s & Gender Studies Book Prize, Suffolk University, 2019
History Book Prize, Suffolk University, 2018
Honours in History – Member of Phi Alpha Theta, 2018
Honours in English – Member of Sigma Tau Delta, 2017

anna.pravdica@warwick.ac.uk

Midlands4Cities ProfileLink opens in a new window

@annajpravdicaLink opens in a new window

LinktreeLink opens in a new window

Office Hours

Fridays 11–12, FAB 3.45

I am currently organising the conference Being Human: Individualism and the Self from the Renaissance to the 21st-CenturyLink opens in a new window as part of my HRC Doctoral Fellowship AwardLink opens in a new window. CFP currently open!

I co-convene Warwick History's PG Work in ProgressLink opens in a new window sessions. Get in touch if you have any questions or are interested in giving a paper!

I am also the Communications Officer for the North American Chapter on the History of EmotionLink opens in a new window – follow us @NACHEmotionLink opens in a new window

Read my recent review of Unmoored: The Search for Sincerity in Colonial America by Ana Schwartz here on H-Net's Early America networkLink opens in a new window

You can also read my post on the nonconformist shoemaker Ralph Wallis and his 1668 pamphlet Room for the Cobler of Gloucester and His Wife, written for the KCL CEMS 'Key Texts' blog seriesLink opens in a new window

Courtesy of the British Library, digitized by Google Books project.

See here my Warwick-Newberry Research Fellow reportLink opens in a new window on my visit to the Newberry Library in Chicago.

Book of eighteenth-century manuscript sermons held in the Newberry Library's special collections, including scraps of notes and copied quotes included by the author.