Emerging Scholars

Emerging Scholars

The Emerging Scholars Committee (ESC) of the Business History Conference focuses on introducing junior scholars to the possibilities of researching and teaching business history. The committee also works to integrate new talent into the BHC communityto; The ESC invites junior scholars to various events that provide a space for engaging with business history and meeting members of the BHC community. These events include a mentoring program (virtual) ahead of the annual meeting and workshops and an evening reception at the conference (see events from BHC 2023). All are opportunities for new scholars to network with BHC-affiliated members with a wide range of experiences within the field . Following the conference the committee also follows up with attendees to gauge their experience in order to improve future events and to continue to expand the network of historians of business.

The following program refers to activities organized ahead of BHC 2025.

Mentoring Week (Online)

The Business History Conference (BHC) is excited to announce the return of the Mentoring Week, organized by the BHC's Emerging Scholars Committee. Taking place from March 3rd to March 7th, 2025, the Mentoring Week precedes the annual BHC meeting and offers a platform for emerging scholars to engage in skills development, networking, and career orientation.

Don't miss this opportunity to connect with fellow scholars in the field of business history. We look forward to welcoming you to Mentoring Week! For any questions, please contact emerging.scholars.committee.bhc@gmail.com.

Mentor-Mentee Program

Connecting Experienced Scholars with Emerging Scholars

The core program of Mentoring Week is our mentor-mentee scheme, which facilitates exchanges between experienced scholars and graduate students, early-career academics, and whoever else self-identifies as emerging scholars. Mentors will be paired with mentees and will then meet online for a one-on-one meeting between the 3rd and the 7th of March.

The meeting is an opportunity for the mentee to ask any questions they might have about pursuing a career as a business historian, ranging from teaching to publishing, applications, the job market, and other topics. It is also hoped that the meeting might be the starting point for further exchanges in the future, be that at the BHC Conference the following week, or elsewhere. In addition, mentees are strongly encouraged to attend the Online Teaching Workshop on March 5.

Online Workshop: Teaching Business History

One of the key features of the Mentoring Week is an online workshop designed to equip emerging scholars with the necessary skills for a successful career in business history.

This year’s workshop is scheduled for March 5th, 2025, at noon eastern time, addressing the teaching of business history. Emerging scholars attending the session will gain insights into a number of different ways in which the broad field of business history is tackled from the instructors’ side, including the use of the case method, the integration of material culture, and the history of capitalism.

Three panelists, whom participants will have the opportunity to engage with through Q&A at the end of the session, will share their insights: Sophus A. Reinert (Harvard Business School), Marina Moskowitz (UW-Madison), and Sharon Murphy (Providence).

To register for the workshop, please fill out this form, by February 24th, 2025.

Conference Workshops (In Person)

BHC Emerging Scholars Book Proposal Workshop

As part of the annual meeting, the BHC’s Emerging Scholars Committee is hosting an in-person book proposal workshop on Thursday afternoon, March 13th. This is an exciting opportunity for up to five emerging scholars to improve their book proposals under the guidance of a senior BHC member.

The workshop is not limited to those who identify as business historians. We conceive of business history broadly and welcome proposals on a wide variety of topics, including but not limited to political economy, labor history, consumption studies, financial history, the history of science and technology, and many more across eras and regions.

Funding is available to defray the costs of attending the conference for successful applicants. Workshop participants will have the opportunity to meet university press and/or series editors.

Emerging Scholars Ice Cream Social

The Emerging Scholars Committee (ESC) invites you to be part of the welcoming activities for early career scholars at the BHC Conference.

Please join us at the Ice Cream Social on Friday March 14th. Generously sponsored by TBC, this is a social gathering open to both emerging and senior scholars. No registration is necessary - please see the conference program for the exact timing. We hope to see you all there!

Please note that conference attendees will be able to self-identify as emerging scholars through their conference badges. We hope this will open up conversations. Don’t be shy and join us in welcoming new members into the BHC community!


Dr. Ashton Merck's interviews with emerging scholars are available on H-Business. Check out the first season here:

University of California, Santa Barbara
African business history, Commodities, consumption
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Economic History, Economic and Business History, Financial history
Brown University
History of Capitalism, Labor History, environmental history
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Kyoto University

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Rutgers Business School, Rutgers University
African-American Management History, African-American History, Black Business
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University of Houston
African-American History, Women, Black Business
Universidad Catolica Andres Bello, Caracas, Venezuela, PhD Student History
Latin America, Oil Multinationals, Energy
Graduate Student, Georgia Institute of Technology
infrastructure, invention, 19th c. US
Princeton University
Business and Economic History, Labor-Management Relations, Industrialization
Graduate student, Kyoto University
Maritime industry, East Asia, Transportation
University of Edinburgh Business School
Financial history
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Geneva Graduate Institute

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University of Massachusetts

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University of Manchester
Business History, 19th century finance, Finance
Copenhagen Business School
entrepreneurship, Business History, Management
Princeton University

Brown University
History of Science-Medicine-Technology, History of Capitalism, Women
University of Chicago
Immigration, Labor History, Borderlands
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Graduate Student, Kyoto University, University of Glasgow

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University of Zürich
Brazil, Latin America, Corporate Social Responsibility
University of Oxford, Universidad de Santiago, Chile
Financial history, Latin America, Political Economy
Wharton School, Management Department
Strategy, Political Economy, Corporate Politics
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University of California, San Diego

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Brown University
Business and social history of socialist systems, 20th century, History of technology
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University of Vienna
Financial history, Public Finance, International Trade
University of Texas at Austin
Media Industries, Financial history, Political Economy
California State University, East Bay
Accounting, Sport & Business, Early Modern Europe
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University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Liberty University
Early America, Early Modern Europe, Early Republic United States
Henry Kaufman Financial History Fellow
History of Capitalism, Modern China, Financial history
Harvard University

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Mangagement School, Zhejiang University, China, Family Business Research Institute, Zhejiang University, China
Entrepreneurial families, family business, oral history
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Ruhr University of Bochum, Germany, Fudan University, Shanghai China
Banking, Chinese economy and business, Financial history
University of Reading (Henley Business School)
Business History, Banking, political economy and social responsibility.
Ivey Business School, Western University

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Northwestern University, Department of History, University of Minnesota, Dakota Language Program
Racial Capitalism
University of Georgia
Political Economy, political history, the New Deal
University of Wisconsin-Madison

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University of Lausanne
Trade Organizations, Multinational Corporations, regulation
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Gothenburg University
Economic Development, geopolitics, Risk
Binghamton University
Latin America, History of Capitalism, Political Economy
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University of Virginia

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Columbia University
Design, United States, information
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Business
Entrepreneurial History, Small Business, Public policy and regulation
Stanford University
Business and Economic History, food studies, environmental history
New York University
American History, 20th c. US., Business Management
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Emory University

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New York University

Queen's University Belfast
Business History, Colonial India, Institutional Change
Duke University
Commodity Chains, standardization, regulation
UC San Diego
19th century, Europe, Modern, Social and Cultural
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University of Maryland

Ted Rogers School of Management
gender and work, Auto Industry, entrepreneurship
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Brown University, Former B&O Railroad Museum

Boston University
20th c. US., Business and Economic History, Business-Government Relations
Harvard University
History of Science and Technology, History of Science-Medicine-Technology, Management theory and history; Leadership; Science and technology studies; History of science; Marketing history; Consumer culture; Organizational Behavior;
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Material Culture, History of technology, Early America
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University of Massachusetts – Amherst

University of Edinburgh
East Asia, East Asian modern business history
University of Essex
Business and Culture, Corporate Social Responsibility, Modern Britain
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Graduate Student

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University of California, Santa Barbara
media
Princeton University

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Ph.D. candidate, Osaka University
Fashion and Textiles