Catriona Ellis

I am a historian of modern South Asia with a particular interest in the social history of children and childhood.  I joined Strathclyde in August 2018 as a Teaching Associate and was promoted to Senior Teaching Fellow in December 2024. 

My scholarship activities focus on the mainstreamining of equality, diversity and inclusion principles into teaching practice, for example through an Inclusive Language Guide and through innovative assessment  and feedback practices.  I am particularly interested in the co-creation of classes as a way of building inclusive classrooms.  I am currently involved in reviewing the undergraduate History curriculum and re-designing the first year modules to focus on the transition from high school and the development of transferable skills.

My disciplinary research centres round the history of education and history of childhood.  My monograph Imagining childhood, Improving children (2023) investigates state and civil society interventions in the lives of children in late colonial South Asia.  I have authored a number of articles on history of education, juvenile justice, children's health and autobiographies.  My most recent research focuses on decolonising museums of childhood.

I currently hold an RSE small grant Free and brave: Scottish educational mission in Madras which considers the impact of transnational connections in Higher Education between Scotland and south India in the early twentieth century.

I am a member of the Centre for the Social History of Health and Healthcare and the Criticial Youth and Childhood Studies Collective.  

Since Sept 2015 I have been Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning for the Department of Humanities, with responsibility for the PGT programmes.  Previously I was a deputy chair of the EDI committee and deputy subject leader for History.  

I am the Humanities Rep for Strathclyde as a Place of Expertise on Children and Young People.  Within this, I am currently part of an interdisciplinary community education project provisionally called 'Histories of Play: Useful Learning With the Local Community' at the Engaged Scholarship Hub in Royston.  

• global histories of childhood
• history of children and children's agency
• children's rights in historical perspective
• children's health and state welfare policies
• history of education 
• juvenile justice
• autobiographies and child-authored sources
• South Asian history 
• dyarchy and constitutional change in late colonial India 
• decolonising museums & legacy of colonialism 
• South Asian diasporas in the UK

I am happy to hear from prospective students about PhD supervision in areas related to the history of childhood and children, social history of empire, history of drugs and medicine, South Asian history and decolonising museums.

I currently supervise: 

Johnnie Anderson: Movable Feasts: Migration, Culinary Culture and Nutrition in Glasgow 1916-1980 (PhD Co-supervisor Oct 2022 - )

Anubhab Dey: History of Tea and Politics: an analysis of the Indian tea industry 1929-1951 (MRes Co-supervisor Sept 2022 - )

Leah Wade: Where Memory Lives (PhD 1st supervisor Oct 2025 - ) 

Debra Brock: Daughters of the Raj (PhD 1st supervisor Oct 2025 - ) 

In 2025-26 I (co-)convene the following undergraduate courses:

• History 1A: Making History: themes & sources
• British Empires: Conquest, Commerce and Cooperation
• From Samurai to Entrepreneurs: The Birth of Modern Japan
• Imperialism, Politics & Society in Britain

I have extensive experience running courses in South Asian history (Living under the Raj), imperial history and history of medicine (Disease & Society/Governings Highs and Health/ Dangerous Drugs and Magic Bullets/No matter how small).

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.