- Early modern drama, historiography, and political thought
- Shakespeare
- Classical tradition
- Political and religious polemic
I am currently working on three projects: 1. a volume of essays co-edited with Andrew McRae which explores the literature produced in response to Stuart successions, from King James I’s in 1603 to Queen Anne’s in 1702; 2. an edited volume of essays examining the influence of Roman history on early modern literary and political culture; and 3. a monograph entitled Kingship, Counsel, and Early Elizabethan Drama offering an interdisciplinary account of the politics of plays and civic entertainments in the first decade of Elizabeth’s reign.
Graduate Teaching and Supervision
I welcome students wishing to work on any aspect of early modern literature, especially drama, historiography, and polemical writings. I would be glad to provide supervision on Shakespeare, Marlowe, Jonson, Massinger, and any other Tudor or early Stuart dramatist, including Anon, and any thesis which proposes to examine religious, historical, or political dimension of early modern poetry, drama, or prose. Within the Eighteenth Century course, I am happy to supervise work on Dryden, any late C17/early C18 dramatist(s), as well as any thesis which proposes to examine religious, historical, or political dimension of Restoration and C18 poetry, drama, or prose. I am especially keen to supervise theses with a strong intellectual history component.
I teach MSt courses on ‘Shakespeare, History, and Politics’ and ‘Imagining Early Modern London’.
Undergraduate Teaching
I teach the period papers from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century; Shakespeare; the early modern paper for the Joint School of Classics and English; and interdisciplinary classes for the Joint School of History and English.
I am currently Chair of the Joint School of History and English.
