Rate My Professor Edward Beasley

Edward Beasley is a Professor Emeritus of History at San Diego State University (SDSU), currently serving in a Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP) capacity, teaching one semester per year until 2027. A specialist in Modern British History, particularly Victorian England, imperialism, and race, he earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, San Diego in 1993 with a dissertation titled "Who Built the Bandwagon?: A Study of the Founders of the Colonial Society of 1868." He also holds an M.A. and C.Phil. in History from UCSD (1989) and a B.A. in Urban Studies and Planning with minors in History and Literature from UCSD (1985). Beasley began his career at SDSU as a Lecturer in the History Department in Spring 1994, progressing to Lecturer C (2005), Associate Professor with tenure (2006/2008), Full Professor (2011), and Department Chair (2019-2022).

Beasley's scholarly contributions include five major monographs published by Routledge and the American Philosophical Society: Empire as the Triumph of Theory: Imperialism, Information, and the Colonial Society of 1868 (2004/2005), Mid-Victorian Imperialists: British Gentlemen and the Empire of the Mind (2005), The Victorian Reinvention of Race: New Racisms and the Problem of Grouping in the Human Sciences (2010), The Chartist General: Charles James Napier, the Conquest of Sind, and Imperial Liberalism (2016), and A Male Hysteria: Diabetes and the Victorian Mind (2024). These works explore the intellectual foundations of British imperialism, Victorian racial theories drawing on thinkers like Alexis de Tocqueville, Walter Bagehot, and Charles Darwin, the career of military officer Charles James Napier, and nineteenth-century perceptions of diabetes. He has also contributed book chapters, such as “The Nineteenth-century Information Revolution and World Peace” in Information and the History of Philosophy (Routledge, 2021) and “British Views of Canada at the Time of Confederation” in Globalizing Confederation (University of Toronto Press, 2017), along with encyclopedia entries and peer-reviewed book reviews in journals including American Historical Review. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society since 2013, Beasley has received SDSU research grants (2005, 2013), a competitive sabbatical (2013), and recognitions as Favorite Faculty (2004, 2005) and Most Influential Professor (2013). Over nearly three decades at SDSU, he has taught numerous courses including Modern British History, Modern World Imperialism, and graduate seminars on Victorian England and the history of race, emphasizing the craft of historical analysis.