I studied for a BA in Spanish at Bristol University where I developed an academic interest in 20th Century Spanish history, as well as a personal interest in Latin America having spent my year abroad living and working in Colombia and Ecuador. After graduating I worked in consultancy before deciding to undertake an MSc in the Theory and History of International Relations at the LSE. I remained at the LSE for a further two years prior to starting my PhD, working in the International Drug Policy Unit on various projects relating to Afghanistan, Colombia, Ireland and the Philippines.

She was co-convener of the HY509 International History Research Seminar from 2019 to 2021 and is the co-editor of the department's LSE International History Blog.

Provisional thesis title

The Spanish Mirror: Colombian national identities, the Spanish civil war and its legacies, 1936-1946

Charlotte’s thesis aims to interrogate official, public and intellectual debates around the Spanish civil war and examine the implications these had for Colombian society. Colombia in the late 1930s experienced radical reforms and technological advances that led to increased political polarisation and passionate debate around Colombian identity and state-building. However, the few studies that have explored the Spanish civil war in Colombia have failed to effectively integrate these domestic concerns into their analyses of the conflict’s impact. On the other hand, historians examining national debates tend to focus on domestic policies and events, ignoring the international environment and networks that Colombia and Colombians were operating in. By taking a transnational approach to Colombian history in this period and combining methodologies from diplomatic, cultural and intellectual history, this thesis uses the Spanish civil war as a lens through which to evaluate how different Colombians envisioned their country. In doing so, it explores what interactions with Spain tell us about Colombia’s specific nation-building process, society and international standing.