BAVS 2026 elections: candidate statements
Please read all of the candidates’ statements before costing your vote.
Candidates standing for 1x Ordinary Elected Member
Oindrila Ghosh
A Victorian enthusiast, researcher and Professor, currently teaching English Literature at Diamond Harbour Women’s University in India, and also a member of the BAVS, I seek to offer my candidature for the post of Ordinary Elected Member of the British Association for Victorian Studies.
I have a PhD on Thomas Hardy’s Shorter Fiction and thereafter have published and lectured widely on postcolonial film adaptations of Hardy’s novels, Hardy’s Asian and Indian correspondents and currently been working on the transnational animal welfare movements and vegetarianism in the late-Victorian period, addressing primarily the literary and cultural reflections with regard to Britain and India. I am also interested in the life and work of Edward Carpenter, and have an essay-entry on him accepted for publication in the Oxford Bibliographies. I am also a regular reviewer for the BAVS newsletter and several other noted journals of Victorian studies: as Victorian Review, Global Journal of Nineteenth Century Studies, Victorian Periodicals Review and Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies. I am on the Editorial Board of Victoriographies Journal since 2023 and am currently editing a special issue on Victorians and Animal Welfare scheduled for publication in November 2026.
In 2024 the Department of English, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Exeter, supported my application for Global Professorship of the British Academy, and though it was not successful, to have received support for my ideas in itself was encouraging. Though I am spatially located away from the UK, I make visits regularly supported by fellowships, conference and research grants regularly and hope to participate in some future BAVS meetings or events. I feel that my candidature for the ordinary elected member of the BAVS may not be hampered by my geographical location but rather add to the global face of Victorian Studies, that is being promoted and strengthened by several groups and scholars in recent times. I can be an effective link or mediary between the Indian/South Asian scholars of Victorian studies and their British counterparts. There are several junior researchers in Indian Universities who are exploring new avenues of research in Victorian Studies, but lack mentorship and direction, which I have been trying to offer over a decade through my experience of researching in the area and of archival work in the UK since 2009.
Ann E. Gray
As a long-time BAVS member I’ve enjoyed the events, the newsletter, the collaborations and writing book reviews. Now it is time to give back. As a past president of RICS I well understand the strategic role of Committee members and I am able to bring a collaborative approach to discussions of long-range goals. My volunteer record includes extensive board experience including several at conservation related non-profits.
As founder of book publisher Balcony Press my strengths are in areas relating to the newsletter, book prizes and funding reviews. Additionally, as an experienced surveying professional I would enjoy helping create fruitful partnerships with other organisations in adjacent fields.
My primary residence is in Southern California and I believe my geography means I can also bring interesting new voices to conferences and events. Nevertheless, I travel to the UK two or three times per year during the course of my research and I am confident I will be able to attend Committee meetings as required, arrange travel to be on hand as necessary and serve productively in a remote capacity.
Candidates standing for 1x Postgraduate Representative
Haya Ali Genawi
I am writing to express my interest in the Postgraduate Representative role at the British Association for Victorian Studies. My name is Haya and I am a first-year PhD student in English at the University of Liverpool. My research focuses on middle-class women’s hunger and denial of food and drink in mid to late Victorian literature.
I have previously been a student representative for my institution’s English department, so I am interested in continuing to develop my teamwork skills by being involved in an international association directly aligned with my research field. I am currently a communications committee member in the Postgraduate Development Group (PDG) at the University of Liverpool; my role involves attending monthly online meetings, organising and sending out the e-bulletin, writing and proofreading blog posts, and also sharing ideas about how we can continue to improve our communication methods with other PGRs. Thus, I believe that the editorial and communication responsibilities involved in the representative role are highly suitable for me.
As an outgoing person, I would look forward to connecting with other Victorianists and bringing ECRs together in the community. One way I believe this can be achieved is by continuing to host and widely promote the BAVS pre-conference online workshop which allows early-stage researchers to become comfortable with networking. I also aim to contribute by organising regular, informal online meet-ups with my fellow PGRs throughout the year to discuss our experiences and learn from one another. By encouraging discussion, I plan to bring more contributions to The Victorianist blog.
It would be a pleasure to contribute to the association and develop my skills.
Shelby Neuhauser
My name is Shelby Neuhauser and I’m writing to express my interest in the postgraduate representative role. I’m a women’s historian currently undertaking my PhD work at the University of Edinburgh. My research seeks to isolate and redefine a generation of British and American women from 1870-1914.
I believe my skillset and prior experience in website and social media management, volunteer coordination, community engagement, and non-profit leadership roles will lend itself well to the position. Before commencing my PhD, I worked for the Sons of the Revolution in the State of New York and its Fraunces Tavern Museum. As their membership manager, I was responsible for maintaining their website and social media platforms which included creating and editing content. Additionally, for the past two years I’ve served in a volunteer capacity as the chair of social media and communications for the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter, NSDAR where I also have the privilege of serving on the board as Second Vice Regent. If chosen for the postgrad position, I look forward to advancing my skills by learning to manage the WordPress site and gaining new insights with the PGR blog.
Previously, during my graduate work at the University of Colorado, I served as the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the CU Denver chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society. In this role, I organized ways to connect with CU students and the larger Denver community. As a PhD student, I am actively seeking opportunities to develop my skills and grow in the history space. If selected for the postgrad position, I would be very grateful for the chance to engage with and learn from the BAVS committee and larger community.
Luke Surzyn
Before my final year of my undergraduate degree, I’d never given the Victorians a second thought. To fill my module credits, on a whim, I chose a module by my favourite Professor – Jason Hall – based solely on the name: Sex, Scandal and Sensation in Victorian Literature. Every moment of my academic career from then until now, I have owed to that module. The Victorians now occupy so much of my waking life that it is the butt of constant jokes. Recently, I completed a 20-mile walk following a map scribbled by Edmund Gosse on the back of a letter and in October I will be making my way up Cnoc a’Bhaile-shios at Gosse’s instruction. I’ve been the first to locate and translate an early twentieth-century German study titled ‘A practical investigation into the prevalence of homosexuality,’ which I plan to publish. I’ve spent countless hours in archives, transcribed letters and diaries, and been humbled by the personhood of every Victorian I encounter in these hallowed places.
I’m now a second year PhD candidate working on linguistic constructions of nineteenth-century queer identities. My area of study may be obscure, but it spans multiple methodologies and disciplines: this broad background means that I can offer a diverse collection of expertise to the role. Moreover, my interest in subaltern and unrepresented histories would offer a non-traditional approach to Victorian Studies. I’m a firm advocate for alternative academic outreach and making academia more accessible, and would incorporate this into my role through PGR/ECR workshops on interdisciplinary applications of queer theory and in running The Victorianist and Bluesky pages. It is this that draws me to the role of Postgraduate Representative, and the media responsibilities that accompany it: to be any part of this story for somebody else would be a joy.
Candidate standing for Secretary
Clare Horrocks
As a committed member of BAVS since its inception, back to the hallowed days at Trinity, I have always found the Association to be one that is warm and welcoming to all. Since my return from extended sick leave, I have been amazed at how the Association has grown and developed, meeting the demands of the time. Committee positions dedicated to GLAM, Professionalisation and Archives, amongst others, all demonstrate a group that is adaptable and responsive to the needs of its members. The opportunity to represent BAVS by organising the annual conference in Liverpool made me realise that I didn’t want to leave the Committee after my year had concluded. I had enjoyed being part of the meetings, discussing how to enhance our support and provision. Therefore, this round of applications for Committee positions seemed an opportune time to join the Association and support its continued growth. I would like to learn more about the management of BAVS with the intention that in time I could be in the position to put myself forward for President, if this is not seen as too presumptuous an ambition. I see the coming years as an ideal opportunity to give back to a community that has been behind my own career development for many years. That is why I put LJMU forward for C19 this coming year, to develop my mentoring skills, to ensure that I really understand the needs of today’s PGRs. However, I also enjoyed introducing more opportunities for Mid-Career Professionals at this year’s conference, particularly around developing a Public Humanities voice for the Association. I would hope that my organisational skills in co-ordinating BAVS 2026 will evidence my ability to co-ordinate records and communication as Secretary. However, I am sure that I can always learn more and enhance my existing skills, so would relish an opportunity to work more closely with the current Secretary as she completes her term.
Candidate standing for Treasurer
Fariha Shaikh
I’m delighted to be able to stand for Treasurer at BAVS. BAVS has been instrumental in the making of my academic career – I still remember attending my first conference as a PhD student back in 2011, held at Birmingham, and it felt like coming full circle when I co-organised BAVS 2022 (which was also held at Birmingham). In between the years, and since, I’ve enjoyed attending the conferences and welcoming atmosphere that BAVS fosters. I am looking forward to now playing an active role in helping shape the scholarly community in the capacity of Treasurer.
Broadly speaking, I am a scholar of Victorian literature and culture, and its intersections with the British Empire. I am interested in uncovering marginal and lesser-studied voices from Britain and its in/formal colonies to demonstrate the ways in which Britain’s multifarious experiments in in/formal empires in the nineteenth century impacted the formation and development of literature, and the legacies that these tensions have left behind today. I hope that my interests in global lives, literatures and networks will be fruitful for BAVS as it navigates these challenging times.
I have a long history of ‘service’ in Victorian Studies which would equip me for the role of Treasurer: in addition to co-organising BAVS 2022, I’ve also served as the Director of the Nineteenth-Century Studies Centre at Birmingham, been on the board of Research Society for Victorian Periodicals, and am currently co-editor of Victorian Literature and Culture. I am excited at the possibility of now joining BAVS as Treasurer, and playing an active role in the Association and the broader Victorianist community.
Candidate standing for ECR Representative
Emily Vincent
Since 2019, I have been a committed member of BAVS and seek re-election after a three-year term as ECR Representative. I collaborated with three ECR representatives to develop ECR professionalisation, communication, and community-building initiatives, such as BAVS Tea Time and managing JISCMAIL emails. I co-organised professionalisation and academic panels, delivering an ECR peer-review workshop for the BAVS conference, and a collaborative talk on delivering conference papers for BAVS PGRs. Additionally, I undertook regular committee responsibilities, including meetings and AGMs, writing meeting reports, and attending working groups.
My research is wide-ranging and topical, enabling me to collaborate and connect with a range of ECRs. My forthcoming monograph Spiritualism and Maternal Grief in Late Nineteenth-Century Literature (CUP) reinforces my scholarly commitment to Victorian Studies. On the international, interdisciplinary Media and Epidemics project, I co-authored A British Literary Contagion: ‘Russian Flu’ and Popular Culture at the Fin de Siècle (forthcoming, MUP). From September, I will be a Leverhulme Trust ECR Fellow at the University of Sheffield on a project entitled ‘Infodemics and Invisible Healing: Epidemics, Mesmerism, and Mediums, 1830–1920’.
I would be enthusiastic and collaborative in furthering Victorian Studies and representing BAVS ECRs. I would dedicate time and effort to planning future BAVS ECR conference activities, growing the ECR community with a commitment to EDI principles, and organising workshops tailored to ECR needs. These would be themed on professionalisation (navigating the challenging academic market, international applications, and “out-of-the-box” careers). Others could include demystifying REF 2029, research proposal development, and ECR publishing. My experience as peer reviewer for nineteenth-century journals, Victoriographies, Volupté, and section editor for Advances in Nineteenth-Century Research, alongside success with Leverhulme funding and £7,000 in small grants (including BAVS research and hardship funds), means I am especially passionate about helping ECRs alleviate financial stress and navigate academic and alt-ac landscapes.