On sabbatical 2023-24

Degrees

BA (Hons.) in History (Huron College, University of Western Ontario, Canada), M.A. in History (Queen’s University, Canada), PhD in History (Cantab), Commonwealth Scholar, 1990-1994

Research interests

Early modern cultural history of Europe, with a special emphasis on Naples and southern Italy, and the Grand Tour. Urban and food history.

Publications include 

• Exploring Cultural History: Essays in Honour of Peter Burke (2010)
• New Approaches to Naples c.1500–c.1800: The Power of Place (2013)
• Catalogue for the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition, Treasured Possessions from the Renaissance to Enlightenment (2015)
• Food Hawkers: Selling in the Streets from Antiquity to the Present Day (2016)
• Catalogue for the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition, Feast & Fast: The art of food in Europe, 1450-1800 (2019)

Recent public engagement

• ‘The many sides of the pineapple’, in ‘Eating the past’, History Workshop Online, 20 February 2023: https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/food/the-many-sides-of-the-pineapple/

• Ice cream: A cool history, The Forum, BBC World Service, 19 June 2022, available as a podcast.
• Darwin College Series lecture on Food and cultural history, Darwin College, Cambridge, 25 February 2022, available online.

• ‘We are what we eat’, interview for Thoughtlines Podcast series, CRASSH, 21 January 2021.

Teaching interests

Early modern and modern European history (1500-1850), history of collecting, history of material culture, and history of food.