Introducing the “Derailing Empire” Project and Undergrad Research Team
Thanks to KICD Professor of British History Rob Fletcher, the Kinder Institute is pleased to support a new research initiative on the history of the world’s transcontinental railways. Rail—and especially transcontinental rail—is often understood as a technology that linked up nations, drove economic development, and symbolized modernity. Less understood are the social histories of the ordinary men and women who engaged with railway projects as a site of work, domestic life, and cultural exchange.
Funded by the Australian Research Council, the “Derailing Empire” project (2025-2028) aims to uncover the rich social histories and cultural legacies relating to the development of Australia’s transcontinental railways. A collaboration between a group of scholars in Australia and Prof. Fletcher, it investigates the labor of non-European and women workers who helped construct and maintain Australia’s largest inland railways; the evolution of cross-cultural communities and systems of colonial governance that emerged along railway lines; and the domestic and gendered aspects of railway work and life. The project is also committed to placing Australian transcontinental rail within an international frame, connecting and comparing this story to that of other imperial and transcontinental railway projects in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including in the United States. The project aims to challenge more nostalgic histories of technological progress, and to explore a larger global history of railway imperialism. Supported by the Australian National Railway Museum and two State libraries, it will also see an international group of researchers on railway imperialism convene in Columbia in 2027 for a conference on the subject.
NEW UNDERGRAD RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY
The Derailing Empire project, led by Kinder Institute Professor of British History Rob Fletcher and MU History PhD Student Sam Spurgin, is accepting applications for four undergraduate researchers to assist with examining the social history of rail in the United States. Accepted students will spend three consecutive semesters (Spring to 2026 through Spring 2027) as part of the team. They will receive a $1,000 stipend each semester, along with course credit in Fall 2026 and Spring 2027.
Full details about the application process and the project itself are in the call-for-applications below.
The deadline to apply is Friday, October 31, and any questions can be directed to Sam Spurgin, spspqf@missouri.edu.