Helen Shears

Biography

Helen Shears is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History. She is a historian of early modern European empires with a focus on diplomacy and international law. Her research examines the process of European treaty-making as a tool of global empire-building using the methods of book history and historical geography. In addition to other grants, awards, and competitive internships, she was recently awarded the Harold Parker-Hans Schmitt Award for Best Dissertation in European History at the Southern Historical Association for her dissertation "The Treaties of Utrecht and the Making of the British Empire, 1713-1783." Currently, she is working on drafting her first article for publication which examines connections between the Treaties of Utrecht and local treaties between European settlers and Indigenous polities in the Atlantic northeast.

Shears graduated with her PhD in history from Duke University in 2024 and also earned a Master's Degree in the social sciences at the University of Chicago. For her undergraduate studies, she attended the liberal arts college University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA where she graduated summa cum laude. She is especially thrilled to return to her liberal arts roots here at Oberlin.