Brett Bennett of British Scholar recently sat down with Dane
Kennedy, Elmer Louis Kayser Professor of History and
International Affairs at The George Washington University in
Washington, D.C., to conduct the very first Scholar of the Month
interview.  Dane's numerous academic works include:

-  The Highly Civilized Man:  Richard Burton and the Victorian World
(Harvard University Press, 2005)

-  Britain and Empire, 1880-1945 (London, 2002)

-  The Magic Mountains:  Hill Stations and the British Raj (Berkeley,
1996; Delhi, 1996)

-  Islands of White:  Settler Society and Culture in Kenya and
Southern Rhodesia, 1890-1939 (Durham, 1987)
1.  Where, when, and why did you become interested in British and,
moreover, imperial history?

DK.  The far-from-inspiring truth is that my interest in British imperial history
may have originated with my juvenile enthusiasm for the Tarzan novels of
Edgar Rice Burroughs and my decision to memorize Kipling’s “Gunga Din”
for a sixth-grade poetry reciting contest.  My fate was sealed as an
undergraduate at Berkeley during the height of the Vietnam War.  There
was no doubt in my mind that this was an imperial war, and thus the subject
of empires acquired a contemporary relevance for me.  British imperial
history allowed me to marry my fascination with the exotic aspects of empire
with my dismay at its political and military costs.

2.  Who most influenced your academic development?

DK.  How’s this for a cliched answer?—my parents.  Though neither of them
went to college, they were—and remain—voracious readers who have great
intellectual curiosity and respect for education.  What else could I do to
please them but become an academic?  Well, maybe become a lawyer or a
politician, but I lacked the talents for either of those options.  My academic
proclivities were also nurtured by my high school Russian teacher, Mr.
Gerald Hays.  I was a lousy linguist who never learned much Russian, but
Mr. Hays (I still can’t speak of him without the Mr.) opened my eyes to the
wider world with his interest in art and literature and much more (including
Chicken Kiev).

3.  If you hadn’t become a historian what career path would you have
chosen?

DK.  At this stage in my life it’s hard to imagine a different career path.  And
at the time I entered graduate school, that decision was as much an attempt
to postpone any real commitment to a career as it was a belief that history
was the right path for me.  In other words, serendipity drew me into a career
as an historian, and saved me from having to make any hard decisions
about what to do with my life.

4.  What project are you currently working on?  Will this appear in book
form?

DK.  I’m currently working on a study of British exploration in the 19th
century.  At this early stage in the project I’m intrigued by the way exploration
shifted from oceans to continents, and in particular by the way the scientific
protocols of sea exploration (exemplified by Captain Cook’s voyages) were
adopted to land exploration—with very problematic results.  I certainly hope
it will appear as a book, but I have years to go before that’s likely to happen.

5.  Of your academic projects, which one has proven to be most fulfilling?

DK.  The one I enjoyed the most was the project that resulted in my book
The Magic Mountains.  It seemed to take on a life of its own, going in
directions I never could have anticipated.  The research seemed to fall into
place and it gave me an opportunity to see a good deal of India, which was
revelatory.

6.  Where do you see the field of British imperial history moving towards in
the next few years?

DK:  I’ve ridden the wave of the ‘new’ imperial history’s growing popularity
for a good decade and a half now, and for much of that time I’ve figured it
had reached its crest and would soon recede into some academic
backwater.  Well, so far it continues to go from strength to strength.  I do
suspect, however, that it will alter in tone and substance as a result of the
Iraq war, which has reminded us in the starkest possible terms that empires
are not merely discursive cultural constructs but matters of in-your-face
military and political force.  It also has reminded us of the limitations of
imperial power.  Both of these points are likely to figure more prominently in
future scholarship on the British empire than they have in recent years.  So,
does this mean the revival of the ‘old’ imperial history?  We’ll see.

7.  What advice to you have for graduate students and beginning
academics about finding a topic of interest and publishing on it?

DK:  My advice is pretty simple—find a topic that you can get really excited
about.  If you do so and if you’re able to communicate your excitement, you
should do ok.
© Copyright 2006-08 British Scholar. All rights reserved.
Scholar of the Month
February 2007