About

I completed my PhD in American Studies and MA in American Foreign Policy at the University of Nottingham, having previously obtained a BA (Hons) History from the University of Leeds. Before joining Sheffield Hallam in 2016, I taught American history at the University of Nottingham, University of Sheffield, and University of Hull.

I have been Course Leader for BA (Hons) History at Sheffield Hallam since 2020, a role which I enjoy because it allows me to really get to know our students and support them through their university journey. I am particularly interested in helping our students recognise their potential and develop their employability skills while studying a subject they love. I enjoy supervising undergraduate research projects on any aspect of American history and welcome postgraduate students interested in research relating to US foreign relations, philanthropy, development, and Iran during the Cold War, as well as modern American history more broadly defined.

My research interests include US foreign relations, American and international philanthropy, modernization and development, and US-Iranian relations during the Cold War. My first book, US Foreign Policy and the Modernization of Iran: Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and the Shah was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015. More recently, I have published a co-edited collection of essays with Bloomsbury (alongside Dr Rachel Williams, University of Hull) titled American Philanthropy at Home and Abroad: New Directions in the History of Giving.

I am currently working on a project that focuses on the post-war agricultural development, rural education and disease control activities of the philanthropic Near East Foundation in Iran. I am interested in the ways in which non-governmental, philanthropic organisations and actors such as the NEF sought to influence, shape and challenge US foreign policy.

I have previously been a member of the British Association for American Studies Executive Committee, Associate Editor of Journal of American Studies and Editor of US Studies Online.

Senior Lecturer

American history; US foreign relations;
Cold War; US-Iranian relations;
American philanthropy

Teaching

Sheffield Creative Industries Institute

College of Social Sciences and Arts

English, History and Creative Writing

BA (Hons) History

History Research Project
Applied History

Research

• Culture and Creativity Research Institute

"Helping Needy People to Help Themselves": The Near East Foundation, Philanthropy, and US-Iranian relations

Publications

Other activities

Executive Committee, British Association for American Studies

Media

Ben's research focuses on the relationship between the United States and Iran during the twentieth-century. He is currently working on a project about the philanthropic Near East Foundation';s role in shaping US-Iranian relations during the Cold War.