John Munro

Dr. John Munro is a Lecturer in United States History and Co-Director of the Centre for Global American Studies at the University of Birmingham. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has taught at St. Mary’s University (Canada) and held fellowships at Harvard University and the University of Rostock (Germany). His research focuses on colonialism, racial capitalism, and social movements in a global context, with emphasis on US imperialism, decolonization, and critical histories of the Cold War.

Key publications include The Anticolonial Front: The African American Freedom Struggle and Global Decolonization, 1945–1960 (Cambridge UP, 2017), a Pauli Murray Prize finalist, and co-edited volumes like Reading the Postwar Future: Textual Turning Points from 1944 (Bloomsbury, 2020). His work bridges academic scholarship with public discourse, addressing themes like fascism, infrastructure, and automobility.

Research interests span American Empire, Indigenous histories, global Cold War dynamics, and neoliberalism’s intersections with settler colonialism. He advises students on topics such as US empire, African American history, and Cold War studies. Collaborations include the Public Books Imperialism Syllabus and projects on textual transformations of pivotal global years like 1989 and 1944.

Grant and fellowship support includes the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His academic affiliations extend to the American Studies Institute at Rostock and ongoing contributions to interdisciplinary forums like the Charles Warren Center. He actively engages in public scholarship through articles and media commentary on historical themes relevant to contemporary issues.