Dr Rachel Bynoth

Personal statement

Rachel is a Lecturer in Historical and Critical Studies. Her research focuses on anxiety, emotion, social, political and gender history from 1700 to 1945, with a particular interest in letters, communication, distance and consumption practices.

Rachel's PhD research was funded by the South West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWWDTP) which looks at anxiety through the lifecycle, using the familial letters of the Canning family from 1760-1830, to nuance understandings of remote relationships and communications through letters. She was a seminar co-convenor for History Lab, the postgraduate wing of the Institute for Historical Research and History editor for the SWWDTP student-led journal, Question.

As an advocate for decolonisation, intersectionality and diverse voices and perspectives, Rachel is part of Bath Spa's Decolonisation Steering Group, which looks at decolonisation initiatives across the university. She is also on the working group for the development of BSECS' EDI policy. 

She also has a particular interest in student engagement, having previously worked as the Representation and Advice Co-ordinator at Bath Spa Students' Union and is keen to support engagement projects and initiatives, especially in relation to co-creation and student voice. 

Academic qualifications

• BA - Bath Spa University
• MA - Bath Spa University
• PhD - Bath Spa University.

Professional memberships

• Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society

Other external roles

• Postgraduate Researcher/Early Career Researcher Committee Member for British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 2022-present.

Teaching specialism

History in the following areas:

• Emotions
• Gender
• Consumption
• Leisure and pleasure
• 18th and 19th century society
• Politics
• Satire
• Letters
• History of communication
• George Canning
• Health and wellbeing.