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Department of History

Our academic staff

We're home to experts spanning many different subjects areas across philosophy, history, art history, and interdisciplinary studies.

Our experts are open to research supervision and have a variety of research interests which span many intellectually stimulating topics. We recommend browsing staff profiles to learn more about our staff's specific areas of research, and to explore supervision opportunities. You'll also find details on current postgraduate student supervision and details of recent and previous publications. If you'd like to search for a specific research opportunity, you'll need to enter your keywords on research finder.

Our supervisors are excited to hear from you.

Head of School

Dr Matthew Grant

Dr Matthew Grant

Head of School

School of Philosophical, Historical, Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Essex

Dr Matthew Grant's covers the history of Britain since 1939, focusing on the cultural and political impact of war and conflict on the home front. His other research interests also covers the cold war and nuclear conflict, and citizenship in Britain.
Explore our academic staff by subject:
Art History
Philosophy
History
Interdisciplinary Studies

Art History, Curating, and Heritage

Explore our art history, curating, and heritage staff profiles to learn about their teaching, research, current supervision, and research supervision opportunities.

Explore our staff profiles

Dr Lisa Blackmore
Research interests: Modernity in Latin America; Visual culture; Space and politics; Memory politics; Human-nature relations; Water, hydraulics, liquid ecologies in the arts; Environmental aesthetics; Photography; Digital culture; Contemporary visual production in Latin America; VENEZUELA RESEARCH NETWORK. With Dr. Penélope Plaza (University of Reading), Dr. Rebecca Jarman (University of Leeds).
Dr William Carruthers
Research interests: History of heritage; History of museums; History of archaeology; History of anthropology; Politics and ethics of archaeology and heritage; History of the field sciences; The field sciences, imperialism and colonialism; History, politics, and practice of archives; Dams and dispossession; Middle East history
Dr Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco
Research interests: Disaster Heritage; Community Resilience; Heritage and Sense of Place; Digital Replicas of Heritage; Virtual Museums; Digital Heritage; Immersive environments for Heritage and Museums; The Heritage of Natural Catastrophes; Affect, Cognition and Perception in Digital Heritage Studies; Video Ethnography for Heritage Studies
Dr Matt Lodder
Research interests: tattooing and body modification in their historical and theoretical contexts; lowbrow, outsider, countercultural, kitsch and erotic art & visual culture; the visual and cultural contexts of sex and sadomasochism, including pornography; internet and digital art; methodologies of art historical and visual culture study
Dr Natasha Ruiz-Gomez
Research interests: Art and science/medicine; Auguste Rodin's oeuvre; Nineteenth-century French sculpture; Architecture and urban planning in nineteenth-century Paris; Auguste Rodin and science; Jean-Martin Charcot and art; Objectivity and medical imagery; Medical portraiture; Nineteenth-century medical photography; Theories of degeneration and genius
Dr Joerg Schaub
Research interests: Social and Political Philosophy (focus on contemporary theories and 19th century German authors); Frankfurt School and Contemporary Critical Theory; Aesthetics
Dr Michael Tymkiw
Research interests: Spectatorship; Histories of modernism; Exhibition design and curation; The relationship between art and politics; The use of digital technologies in museums and galleries; Intersections between pre-modern and modern art
Professor Diana Bullen Presciutti
Research interests: visual hagiography; charitable institutions (hospitals, confraternities); visual culture of social problems; late medieval and Renaissance Italian visual culture (1300-1600); reception theory; visual culture of the mendicant orders; gender and sexuality; medical humanities

Philosophy

Explore our philosophy staff profiles to learn about their teaching, research, current supervision, and research supervision opportunities.

Explore our staff profiles

Dr Matthew Burch
Research interests: Matt works on issues at the intersection of phenomenology; action theory; and research in the cognitive and social sciences.
Dr Lorna Finlayson
Professor Fabian Freyenhagen
Research interests: Theory, history and practice of autonomy; Frankfurt School (especially Adorno); Ethics (particularly critique of Kant's and Kantian ethics); Political Philosophy
Dr Steven Gormley
Research interests: Ethics and politics of attention (particularly the work of Iris Murdoch); Deconstruction; Deliberative democratic theory;
Dr Marie Guillot
Research interests: Philosophy of mind; philosophy of language; epistemology; philosophy of psychology; Speech acts
Professor Beatrice Han-Pile
Research interests: Agency, medio-passivity and the theological virtues; Foucault and XXth century philosophy, in particular phenomenology
Dr Fiona Hughes
Research interests: Phenomenology (French and German)
Professor Timo Jütten
Research interests: Critical Social Theory (Adorno, Habermas, Honneth); The moral status of Capitalism and Markets; Philosophy; Feminism (especially sexual objectification, prostitution, pornography); Philosophical foundations of human rights (the relationship between human dignity and human rights, mental capacity and human rights, human rights and Big Data)
Professor Wayne Martin
Research interests: Philosophy of Psychiatry; Phenomenology (esp Hume, Husserl, Heidegger, Th Lipps, L&oslashgstrup); Kant and post-Kantian idealism (esp Fichte); The history and philosophy of logic; Philosophy and painting; Self-Consciousness; Autonomy and the Regulation of Care; Political Philosophy; Will, Agency and Contract
Professor Irene McMullin
Research interests: Existentialism; Phenomenology; Ethics
Dr Joerg Schaub
Research interests: Social and Political Philosophy (focus on contemporary theories and 19th century German authors); Frankfurt School and Contemporary Critical Theory; Aesthetics
Dr Ellisif Wasmuth
Research interests: Ancient Philosophy, with particular focus on Plato; ancient conceptions of the self and self-knowledge; Socratic ethics; the Platonic dialogueAlcibiades I.;
Dr Daniel Watts
Research interests: Kierkegaard; Wittgenstein; The theory of judgement; Medical Humanities; Existentialism and phenomenology; Moral and political philosophy and; Philosophy of religion

History

Explore our history staff profiles to learn about their teaching, research, current supervision, and research supervision opportunities.

Explore our staff profiles

Dr Thomas Freeman
Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Medieval and Early Modern Martyrdom; Perceptions of the Middle Ages in the Early Modern Period; Early Modern Historical Writing; Demonic Possession and Exorcism; Early Modern Colchester; Film and History; English Reformation;
Dr Alix Green
Reader, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Political cultures and policy; Public history; Archives and archiving
Professor Peter Gurney
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Consumerism and consumer movements; Popular politics and popular protest; Working-class culture and autobiography
Professor Sean Kelley
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: New World slavery; The transatlantic slave trade; Africans in the Americas; Transnational mercantile networks and connections; Maritime history; Testimony, autobiography, and narrative in African and Atlantic history; Global and transnational approaches to history
Professor Tracey Loughran
Director of Centre for Public and Policy Engagement - Professor (R), School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: History of gender; History of psychology and psychoanalysis; History of subjectivity; History of war and trauma; Historiography and historical theory; Empathy and emotion in medical training
Professor Lucy Noakes
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: I am a social and cultural historian of modern warfare
Dr Andrew Priest
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: US foreign policy since c1860; Public opinion and foreign policy; Anglo-American relations
Prof Matthias Röhrig Assunção
Emeritus Professor, School of Philosophy and Art History
Research interests: History of slavery and post-emancipation societies; Agrarian and peasant history; Political history of Nineteenth and twentieth century Brazil; Latin American popular culture; Capoeira - combat games and martial arts in the Black Atlantic
Professor Nadine Rossol
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: German history, especially social and cultural history of Weimar and Nazi Germany; European cultural and urban history; police history
Professor Alison Rowlands
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: The social and cultural history of early modern Germany.; Gender in early modern Europe.; Witchcraft, magic and witch-trials, especially in early modern Germany and England; Witch-trials in fiction, commemorative practice, and public history.
Dr Felix Schnell
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Russian and Soviet History in the late 19th and 20th Century; History of Ukraine; War, Violence, and Revolution in 19th and 20th Century Europe
Dr Lisa Smith
Faculty Dean Postgraduate (Humanities) - Senior Lecturer (R), School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Britain and France, ca 1600-1800; Digital History; Medicine and Science; Supernatural; Body; Gender History; Food
Dr Xun Zhou
Reader, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Race and Ethnicity in East Asia; Social History of Drugs; Visual History, Southeast and East Asia; Social and Political History of Modern China; History of Public Health and Medicine in 20th century China; Food and Foodways; Global Environmental History; History of Religion in Modern East Asia; Global Public Health
Dr Matthew Grant
Head of School - Reader, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: British history since 1939; impact of war and conflict on the home front; The cold war and nuclear conflict; Citizenship in Britain

Interdisciplinary studies

Explore our interdisciplinary studies staff profiles to learn about their teaching, research, current supervision, and research supervision opportunities.

Explore our staff profiles

Dr Lisa Blackmore
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Modernity in Latin America; Visual culture; Space and politics; Memory politics; Human-nature relations; Water, hydraulics, liquid ecologies in the arts; Environmental aesthetics; Photography; Digital culture; Contemporary visual production in Latin America; VENEZUELA RESEARCH NETWORK. With Dr. Penélope Plaza (University of Reading), Dr. Rebecca Jarman (University of Leeds).
Dr Matthew Burch
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Matt works on issues at the intersection of phenomenology; action theory; and research in the cognitive and social sciences.
Dr William Carruthers
Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: History of heritage; History of museums; History of archaeology; History of anthropology; Politics and ethics of archaeology and heritage; History of the field sciences; The field sciences, imperialism and colonialism; History, politics, and practice of archives; Dams and dispossession; Middle East history
Dr Paola Di Giuseppantonio Di Franco
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Disaster Heritage; Community Resilience; Heritage and Sense of Place; Digital Replicas of Heritage; Virtual Museums; Digital Heritage; Immersive environments for Heritage and Museums; The Heritage of Natural Catastrophes; Affect, Cognition and Perception in Digital Heritage Studies; Video Ethnography for Heritage Studies
Professor Fabian Freyenhagen
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Theory, history and practice of autonomy; Frankfurt School (especially Adorno); Ethics (particularly critique of Kant's and Kantian ethics); Political Philosophy
Dr Thomas Freeman
Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Medieval and Early Modern Martyrdom; Perceptions of the Middle Ages in the Early Modern Period; Early Modern Historical Writing; Demonic Possession and Exorcism; Early Modern Colchester; Film and History; English Reformation;
Dr Jane Hindley
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Professor Sean Kelley
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: New World slavery; The transatlantic slave trade; Africans in the Americas; Transnational mercantile networks and connections; Maritime history; Testimony, autobiography, and narrative in African and Atlantic history; Global and transnational approaches to history
Dr Matt Lodder
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: tattooing and body modification in their historical and theoretical contexts; lowbrow, outsider, countercultural, kitsch and erotic art & visual culture; the visual and cultural contexts of sex and sadomasochism, including pornography; internet and digital art; methodologies of art historical and visual culture study
Professor Tracey Loughran
Director of Centre for Public and Policy Engagement - Professor (R), School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: History of gender; History of psychology and psychoanalysis; History of subjectivity; History of war and trauma; Historiography and historical theory; Empathy and emotion in medical training
Prof Matthias Röhrig Assunção
Emeritus Professor, School of Philosophy and Art History
Research interests: History of slavery and post-emancipation societies; Agrarian and peasant history; Political history of Nineteenth and twentieth century Brazil; Latin American popular culture; Capoeira - combat games and martial arts in the Black Atlantic
Dr Felix Schnell
Senior Lecturer, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Russian and Soviet History in the late 19th and 20th Century; History of Ukraine; War, Violence, and Revolution in 19th and 20th Century Europe
Dr Xun Zhou
Reader, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: Race and Ethnicity in East Asia; Social History of Drugs; Visual History, Southeast and East Asia; Social and Political History of Modern China; History of Public Health and Medicine in 20th century China; Food and Foodways; Global Environmental History; History of Religion in Modern East Asia; Global Public Health
Professor Diana Bullen Presciutti
Professor, School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Research interests: visual hagiography; charitable institutions (hospitals, confraternities); visual culture of social problems; late medieval and Renaissance Italian visual culture (1300-1600); reception theory; visual culture of the mendicant orders; gender and sexuality; medical humanities
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