St Mary’s University houses the Joseph Conrad Studies Centre which is co-directed by Professor Allan Simmons, one of the preeminent experts of Conrad in the world. He has published widely on Conrad and modern literature and is the general editor of the Cambridge Edition of Conrad’s works. The other co-director, Dr Kim Salmons has also published widely on Conrad and is currently the Conference Secretary for the Joseph Conrad Society (UK) and the Book Review Editor for Joseph Conrad Today, the journal of the Joseph Conrad Society of America. As well as being experts in Conrad, both Allan and Kim can supervise on any aspect of modern literature, colonialism or post-colonialism and are always available to talk about teaching Conrad and modern literature at any level.
Walpole Centre of Research
The aims of the Walpole Centre for Research are to promote interdisciplinary research into the cultural, historical and literary legacy of Horace Walpole and his work. This includes a particular focus on the gothic both within and beyond the lifetime of Walpole. The Centre will engage with the wider public through partnerships with heritage organisations, local communities, and schools and publish research via a Walpole Centre blog.
Mark Donnelly, Associate Professor of History and director of the Walpole Centre of Research has published books, articles and essays in the fields of history theory, public history, memory and contemporary cultural politics. He recently contributed essays to two major international collections: What is Public History Globally? Working with the Past in the Present (2019) and Philosophy of History: Twenty-First Century Perspectives (2020). He co-edited Mad Dogs and Englishness: Popular Music and English Identities (2017). He also co-wrote Liberating Histories (2019) and Doing History (2021).
Angela Platt, who also leads the Centre, is currently completing her PhD thesis on ‘How love is valued and experienced in religious families of Old Dissent in England, 1780-1850’. Angela’s literary and archival expertise has been integral in the interdisciplinary approach of the research centre and reflects and enhances the Liberal Arts approach that defines the School.
For more information, contact Angela Platt or Mark Donnelly.