Jonathan Singerton is an Assistant Professor for Global Political History at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research focuses on the global history of the Habsburg lands in Central Europe from the early modern period to the early twentieth century. In addition, he also has a keen interest in North American and Asian history.
As Assistant Professor (Universitair Docent/Senior Lecturer) at VU Amsterdam, he contributes to the core Political History group as well as the wider BA and MA History & International Studies programmes. He is a member of the CLUE+ Research Network and also supports courses at the Amsterdam University College.
His current projects centres on two major themes. Firstly, he engaged in broadening the history of the Habsburg Monarchy through global perspectives. He is presently editing the world’s first multiauthor volume dedicated to Global Habsburg History for Oxford University Press. Alongside this work, he is currently completing a monograph on the same theme.
His second research interest lies within the nexus of religion and informal imperialism in the nineteenth century, specifically the Austro-Hungarian missionary societies active in North America and Africa. As part of this research, he seeks to build links between religious organisations and academic institutions. So far, his mission has been supported by the Botstiber Foundation, Tyrolean Scientific Funds, Academy of American Franciscans, and St. Norbert College, Wisconsin.
In 2022, his first book, The American Revolution and the Habsburg Monarchy appeared in print and subsequently won the Liechtenstein Prize for Outstanding Research (2023). In addition, he has published widely beyond political history themes ranging from the oceanic approaches to the history of science. He has also held numerous fellowships in the Austria and the United States.
Prior to joining VU Amsterdam, he was a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam and previously at the University of Innsbruck, Austria as well as a Researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. He is currently a Fellow of the Royal Society for History in the United Kingdom. In 2018, he received his PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh where his dissertation won the Jeremiah Dalziel Prize for British History, the James Crompton Prize in American History, and a Peter Parish Award from the British Association of American Studies. He was a recipient of the Liechsteinstein Prize in 2023.
In 2024, he joined the Board of Advisors for the Bostiber Institute for Austrian-American Studies.
Further information such as academic talks, conference hosting, and a full biography can be found via his personal website.
