Selina Todd


Selina Todd is an English historian and writer. From 2015, she has been Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Todd's research focuses on the history of the working-class, women and feminism in modern Britain. Since 2017, Todd has also been president of the Socialist Educational Association.

Early life

Selina Todd was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1975 and, after schooling at a state comprehensive, she completed her undergraduate degree in history at Warwick University. She took a Master of Arts degree and then a doctor of philosophy degree in history at the University of Sussex.

Career

After holding a Scouloudi Fellowship and Economic and Social Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research, Todd was elected to the Ottilie Hancock Research Fellowship in History at Girton College, Cambridge, in 2004. The following year, she was appointed a lecturer at Warwick University, and in 2007 took a lectureship in modern British history at the University of Manchester. In 2010, she was appointed a Fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and a lecturer in history at the University of Oxford. In 2015, she was awarded the title of Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford. She was vice-principal of St Hilda's College between 2014 and 2017. She has held several editorial roles, including serving on the Board of the historical journal Past and Present. Her biography of Shelagh Delaney, Tastes of Honey was published in 2019.
Since 2017, Todd has been president of the Socialist Educational Association.

Controversy

Todd and 30 other academics signed a public letter in The Sunday Times published on 16 June 2019 entitled “”. The letter claims that Stonewall is stifling academic progress by promoting inclusions of trans people and using trans individuals' chosen pronouns. In response over 6,000 of Todd’s fellow academics signed a letter stating “Until all LGBTQIA+ people can live, work and learn in our universities without fear or intimidation, it is vital that we stand up and say that we support the rights of trans and other gender-diverse people to be who they are.”
In January 2020, Todd revealed that she had been warned of threats against her on social media; after an investigation at her request, Oxford University arranged security guards to accompany her to lectures. She said that threats are from campaigners who find unacceptable her views on protecting women's spaces, such as women's refuges, from people who self-identify as women but are anatomically male. She said: "In the world today democracy is under threat and therefore we all have to defend the right of people to have freedom of speech and freedom of debate."
In February 2020, Todd was allegedly no platformed at a celebration in Oxford of the 50th anniversary of the National Women's Liberation Conference of 1970. Todd had accepted to speak at the event, but was asked the night before to withdraw from speaking. Another speaker, Lola Olufemi, withdrew from the event because Todd is aligned with the campaign group Woman's Place UK, whose views Olufemi sees as "transphobic". In response, Todd wrote: "I refute the allegation that I am transphobic, and I am disappointed that the organisers have refused to uphold our right to discuss women's rights – one that the original organisers had to fight hard for."

Select bibliography

Todd's research focuses on the history of the working-class, gender and feminism in modern Britain. Her 2005 book Young Women, Work and Family in England 1918–1950 won the Women's History Network Annual Book Prize.
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