Ellen Durban

Ellen’s PhD thesis examines how women who desired women experienced marriage, motherhood, and divorce in post-World War II Britain. Motherhood within marriage has been a long-standing imperative for women. Ellen’s thesis will illustrate the strength of this imperative: that even women who desire women – who might be described as lesbian or bisexual – have been compelled by economic and social reasons to marry men. These women, who pass as heterosexual wives, are mostly invisible in society and in the scholarship: married mothers are assumed to be heterosexual, and lesbians are assumed to not marry men. Ellen’s research expands the identity of “lesbian” and “mother” and challenges what Western society considers “normal” and “heterosexual”.

Divorce is central to Ellen’s research; during divorce and custody proceedings married women who desired women became visible. She examines the effect of the common law on persons who never saw the inside of a courtroom and how common law’s interpretation of statute law that was not specific to homosexuality had a significant impact on women who desired women. Even though lesbianism between adult women was never criminalized in England, the lives of women who desire women have been, and continue to be, constrained under law and by society. By locating women who desire women within the institution of marriage, Ellen’s thesis will encourage scholars in multiple disciplines to re-examine motherhood within marriage in consideration that mothers are not always heterosexual.

Prior to obtaining her MA in Gender, Society and Representation at UCL in 2020, she has had a diverse career spanning three decades and multiple industries, including information technology, horse racing, and hospitality. Writing and publishing has been the consistent thread throughout Ellen’s business career. She has been responsible for producing entire libraries of end-user manuals and marketing materials for software products, a monthly newsletter for an industry association as the editor in chief, and numerous articles for national magazines.

PhD

Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Jennings (Primary Supervisor) and Dr Florence Braithwaite-Sutcliffe (Secondary Supervisor)
Working title: Marriage, Motherhood, and Divorce of Women Who Desired Women in England (1945-1999)
Expected completion date: 2024

Conference Papers and Seminars

Grassroots Support for Married Lesbian Mothers in England, 1970-1990, presented at the 26th Lesbian Lives Conference in Brighton (March 2024)
‘Married Women who Desire Women: Experiences of Marriage, Motherhood, and Divorce in Postwar Britain’ presented at the qUCL PGR Work-in-Progress Seminar (July 2023)
‘’Marriage and Motherhood of Women who Desire Women in Post-World War II England’ presented at the Gender and Feminist Research Network (February 2023)
‘’Marriage and Motherhood of Women who Desire Women in Post-World War II England’ presented at the LGBTQ+ History Network (February 2023)
‘Women Who Desired Women and How They Negotiated Marriage, Motherhood, and Divorce in Post-war England’ presented at Mind the Gap: Building Bridges Between LGBTQIA+ Research and Realities (30 - 31 July 2022) at LSE

Teaching

CMII0049 CMII/SELCS MA/MSc Workshops on Academic Writing: Developed and delivered 4 2-hour workshops to help students to understand the expectations of academic writing at the PG level. (February-March 2024)
CMII0071 Moving Images! (MA Film Studies core course): As a guest lecturer, developed and delivered a lecture, titled Lesbian Representation in Hollywood Cinema: 1961 – Present, to 135 students. (January 2024)
HIST0007 Writing History (BA History core course): As PGTA seminar leader of three groups of 8 students each, designed seminars on how to research and write history essays, including topics such as appropriate referencing, how and when to paraphrase, building an argument, and constructing a thesis statement. First marker. (October – December 2023)
Dissertation Workshops in SELCS: Developed content and led 4 workshops to prepare 45 students to write their introduction and abstracts for their dissertations. (May 2023)
CMII0071 Moving Images! (MA Film Studies core course): As a guest lecturer, developed and delivered a lecture, titled Lesbian Representation in Hollywood Cinema: 1961 – Present, to 80 students over 3 sessions. (January 2023)
CMII0048/CMII0051 Multidisciplinary Approaches to Gender Studies (MA Gender, Society and Representation core course): As PGTA seminar co-leader of two reading groups, engaged students in discussions of theoretical concepts from selected articles. (January - March 2023)
HIST0007 Writing History (BA History core course): As PGTA seminar leader of two groups of 8 students each, designed exercises to teach how to write history essays, including topics such as appropriate referencing, how and when to paraphrase, building an argument, and constructing a thesis statement. (October - December 2022)

Administrative Experience

As PGR Faculty Representative for Social and Historical Sciences (2023-2024) surveyed PGTAs in SHS and Arts & Humanities.
As the PhD Co-convenor of the Gender and Feminist Research Network (2023-2024) (remunerated position), organized a Queer Oral History Round Table of four eminent historians of queer (December 2023).
Department Representative for History.

Community Engagement

Presented Psychiatric Research on Children of Lesbian Mothers to the Financial Reporting Council (February 2024)
Presented her current research Marriage, Motherhood, and Divorce for Women Who Desired Women in England (1947-1994) to the South London Gays club (July 2023) and Older and Out in Brighton (August 2023)
Volunteer at Queer Britain, UK’s first national LGBTQ+ museum, answering visitors’ questions and speaking to tour groups about the role of the early gay press in England (2022 – present)
Donated her time, energy, and expertise to a national charitable organization (The Canadian Cancer Society) for which she was the co-chair of the community outreach program for LGBTQ+, First Nations, and immigrant populations (2011-2019)

Professional Affiliations

Member of the Royal Historical Society
Member of the Oral History Society, LGTQ+ Special Interest Group
Member of the History Lab+