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Centre for Enlightenment Studies

The Centre for Enlightenment Studies at King’s was created to consolidate and give a higher profile to the existing 18th century research strengths across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, drawing on a range of expertise in the fields of literature, cultural and intellectual history, music, languages and philosophy. 

We welcome collaboration with all who share an interest in the concept of ‘Enlightenment’, including those who are critical of it and those who work outside the 18th century. 

The Centre aims to build upon existing links with the capital’s major cultural institutions in developing new areas of research and to place a new focus on inter-departmental initiatives and collaborations at research level. This process has strong foundations in various existing (and previous) projects, including:

  • the MA in 18th-Century Studies, taught over the years in collaboration with the British Museum and other cultural institutions from across London; the MA is a uniquely interdisciplinary programme that attends closely to the eighteenth century’s material culture. Many of its graduates have gone on to successful careers in museums as well as to further postgraduate research.
  • the AHRC-funded ‘Reconnecting Sloane Project’ – three interlinked CDAS involving five institutions (King's College London, the British Museum, British Library, Natural History Museum and QMUL).

The Centre Directors : Sanja Perovic and Adam Sutcliffe

Members

Matthew Bell

Matthew Bell

Professor of German and Comparative Literature

Rowan Boyson

Rowan Boyson

Senior Lecturer in English Literature. Co-director for Centre for Enlightenment Studies.

Clare Brant

Clare Brant

Professor of Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture. Co-Director of Centre for Life Writing and Research.

Arthur Burns

Arthur Burns

Professor of Modern British History

John Callanan

John Callanan

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy

Frances Carey

Senior Visiting Research Fellow in the English Department and teaches on the MA in 18th -century studies

Alan Coffee

Alan Coffee

Visiting Lecturer

Hannah Dawson

Hannah Dawson

Senior Lecturer in the History of Political Thought

Richard Drayton

Richard Drayton

Rhodes Professor of Imperial History

Jack Edmunds

Centre Admin for Centre for Enlightenment Studies (CESK)

Elizabeth Eger

Elizabeth Eger

Reader Emerita

Michael Fend

Michael Fend

Reader

Anne Goldgar

Anne Goldgar

Professor of Early Modern History

James Grande

James Grande

Lecturer in Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture

Matthew Head

Matthew Head

Professor of Music

Emrys Jones

Emrys Jones

Senior Lecturer in Eighteenth-Century Literature and Culture

Anna Maerker

Anna Maerker

Reader in History of Medicine

Rosa Mucignat

Rosa Mucignat

Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature

Niall O'Flaherty

Senior Lecturer in the History of European Political Thought

Daniel Orrells

Daniel Orrells

Reader of Ancient Literature & its Reception, Head of Department of Classics

Jessica Patterson

Jessica Patterson

Lecturer in the History of Political Thought

Sanja Perovic

Reader in 18th century French studies. Co-Director of the Centre for Enlightenment Studies.

Jasper Reid

Jasper Reid

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy

Andrea Schatz

Andrea Schatz

Reader in Jewish Studies

Kim Sloan

Curator of British Drawings and Watercolours before 1880 and the Francis Finlay Curator of the Enlightenment Gallery

Miranda Stanyon

Miranda Stanyon

Lecturer in Comparative Literature

Adam Sutcliffe

Adam Sutcliffe

Professor of European History. Co-Director of the Centre for Enlightenment Studies.

David Todd

David Todd

Senior Lecturer in World History

centre for enlightenment studies. image of landscape

Current members of the Centre for Enlightenment Studies are involved with or leading high-profile research projects across a range of topics:

Professor Clare Brant Strandlines, 2011-, initially funded by JISC, AHRC and LCACE, it is now a digital community. Dr Elizabeth Eger, Elizabeth Montagu and the Bluestocking Circle, 2010-, funded by the AHRC. Professor Arthur Burns, Georgian Papers Programme, 2015-, supported by the Royal Collection Trust, King’s College London, the Omohundro Institute of Early American History. Dr. Sanja Perovic, Radical Translations: The Transfer of Revolutionary Culture between Britain, France and Italy (1789-1815), with Dr. Rosa Mucignat (Comparative Literature), 2019-2022, funded by the AHRC. Dr Andrea Schatz, The Reception of Josephus in Jewish Culture from the 18th Century to the Present, 2012-2015, funded by the AHRC. Dr Kim Sloan, Enlightenment Architectures: Sir Hans Sloane’s catalogues of his collections, 2016-2019, funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

Strandlines

Georgian Papers Programme

Radical Translations: The Transfer of Revolutionary Culture between Britain, France and Italy (1789-1815)

Sloane Project

Cherubinis Institutionalisierung 29 June 2016

Cherubini's 'Medee' on the contemporary Opera Stage: A harrowing Attraction 26 February 2019

From Immigrant Musician to State Employee: Cherubini's Career in Paris in the 1790s 01 January 2018

'A Pleasing Rape': John Dennis, Music and the Queer Sublime 31 May 2020

Mozart. Klavierkonzert Nr. 22 Es-Dur KV482 01 January 2019

The Letters of Cole Porter 01 January 2019

Cole Porter's List Songs on Stage and Screen 01 January 2019

Letter della famiglia Mozart Volume II: I viaggi in Italia 01 July 2019

The Regency Revolution: Jane Austen, Napoleon, Lord Byron and the Making of the Modern World, by Robert Morrison 08 August 2019

The Greek Revolution and the Romantic Imagination 10 May 2019

View all research outputs

Fancy_Dress_Ball_at_the_Bath_Assembly_Rooms_by_Thomas_Rowlandson

Pop Enlightenments Podcast

Since 2017, the Centre has sponsored the Pop Enlightenments podcast, a series examining the representation of the eighteenth century in current popular culture. The series is run in association with the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, the UK’s foremost academic society focusing on the history and culture of the long eighteenth century. Hosted by Dr Emrys Jones of KCL’s English Department, the podcast has welcomed a variety of guests to discuss everything from Blackadder to The Favourite. Link to podcast here:

Pop Enlightenments Podcast

Eighteenth-Century Studies MA

Contact us

To receive updates about forthcoming activities from the Centre for Enlightenment Studies at King's, please join our mailing list.

Twitter: @CESKings 

Mailing address:
Centre for Enlightenment Studies
Arts & Humanities Research Institute
K1.18, King’s Building
Strand Campus
London
WC2R 2LS

Faculties and departments