Allison Abra

Allison Abra

Contributor

Allison Abra is the Warden and Vice-Chancellor of St John’s College and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of History at the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on gender, war, popular culture, and emotion in modern Britain. She is the author of Dancing in the English Style: Consumption, Americanisation, and National Identity in Britain, 1918-50 (Manchester University Press, 2017).

History

Her Heroine Mother: Maternity and British Secret Agents in World War II

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In the waning months of World War II, news began to circulate that the British had been sending operatives to German-occupied Europe to conduct clandestine warfare and that some of them had been women. These female secret agents served as couriers, radio operators, and organizers in the French (F) Section of the Special Operations Executive… Read more →

Culture, Feminism

Hallmark Christmas Movies: Guilty Pleasure or Feminist Rallying Cry?

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A woman arrives in a small American town at Christmas time. Possibly her car has broken down, or she’s there on business, or to take a job she (initially) does not want, or she’s deliberately seeking the traditional festive comforts of a small town during the holidays. (It might be that she grew up there,… Read more →