Kevin James

Kevin James is the Scottish Studies Foundation Chair and Professor of History at the University of Guelph, where he has been a faculty member since 2000. His research and teaching focus on Ireland and Britain during the long nineteenth century, with transnational themes such as travel, tourism, and the history of the modern hospitality sector, particularly in Scotland and Ireland.

• Ph.D., University of Edinburgh (2000)
• M.A., McGill University (1997)
• B.A., McGill University (1996)

His research explores the social and cultural history of inns and hotels in Victorian Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, and the Isle of Man, extending to projects on 'tourist development' in nineteenth-century Ireland and intersections of gender, race, and class in Irish travel writing. He is also engaged in public outreach through media, talks, and civil society partnerships.

Recent publications and collaborations analyze the dynamics of hotel registers, wartime hospitality sectors, and the guestbook as a historical source. These works emphasize themes like transnational mobility, state intervention, and the commodification of culture.

• SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant
• SSHRC Insight Development Grant
• SSHRC Insight Grant
• Harry Ransom Center Research Fellowship
• Swiss National Science Foundation project partner

James supervises graduate students in tourism and travel history, with a focus on Scotland and Ireland. His funded projects include international collaborations, such as the history of the guestbook in Switzerland and post-WWI British hotels.