King's College London Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Arts and Humanities Research Institute (AHRI)

Auto-icon of the famous writer and King's alumna, Virginia Woolf, in a building named after her that houses some of the departments under Arts and Humanities.

The Arts and Humanities Research Institute is a hub to foster innovative interdisciplinary research across the Faculty. It is home to many of the Faculty's interdisciplinary research centres:

• Camões Centre for Portuguese Language & Culture
• Centre for Enlightenment Studies @ King's
• Centre for Hellenic Studies
• Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies
• Centre for Life Writing
• Centre for Modern Literature and Culture
• London Shakespeare Centre
• Menzies Centre for Australian Studies
• Queer@King’s

Cross Faculty research centres

• Centre for Language, Discourse and Communication (with the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy)
• Centre for the Humanities & Health

Current academic staff

• Roderick Beaton FBA, Koraes Professor of Modern Greek & Byzantine History, Language & Literature
• George Benjamin CBE, Henry Purcell Professor of Composition
• Francisco Bethencourt, Charles Boxer Professor
• Catherine Boyle FKC, Professor of Latin American Cultural Studies
• Richard Burridge FKC, Dean of King's College London, Professor of Biblical Interpretation
• David Carpenter FRHistS FKC, Professor of Medieval History
• Oliver Davies, Professor of Christian Doctrine
• Richard Drayton FRHistS, Rhodes Professor of Imperial History
• Richard Dyer FBA, Professor of Film Studies
• Simon Gaunt FKC, Professor of French Literature
• Paul Gilroy FBA, Professor of American & English Literature
• Edith Hall, Professor of Classics
• Brian Hurwitz, D'Oyly Carte Professor of Medicine & the Arts
• Paul Janz, Professor of Philosophical Theology
• Roger Parker FBA, Thurston Dart Professor of Music
• Jonathan Sacks Kt FKC, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
• Clemens Sedmak, Professor of Moral & Social Theology
• Martin Stokes FBA, King Edward Professor of Music
• Patrick Wright, Professor of Literature and Visual & Material Culture
• Paul Joyce, Samuel Davidson Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Former academic staff

• Harrison Birtwistle FKC CH, British contemporary composer
• Averil Cameron DBE FBA FRHistS FKC, Warden of Keble College, Oxford, Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine History in the University of Oxford, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford
• A. G. Dickens (1910-2001) FBA, historian, former Director of the Institute of Historical Research
• John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC, English conductor
• John Elliott FBA FRHistS FKC, historian
• F. J. C. Hearnshaw (1869-1946) FKC, historian
• Judith Herrin FKC, Emeritus Professor of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies
• Efraim Karsh, Founding Director and Emeritus Professor of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies
• Mario Vargas Llosa FKC, Peruvian writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate
• P. J. Marshall CBE FBA FRHistS FKC, Emeritus Rhodes Professor of Imperial History, President of the Royal Historical Society from 1997-2001
• Janet Nelson DBE FBA FRHistS FKC, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History, President of the Royal Historical Society from 2001 to 2005
• Richard Overy FBA FRHistS FKC, historian
• Curtis Price KBE FKC, Warden of New College, Oxford
• David Profumo FRSL, an English novelist, 6th Baron Profumo
• Conrad Russell (1937-2004), 5th Earl Russell
• Richard Sorabji CBE FBA FKC, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy
• Susan Stebbing (1885-1943), Lecturer in Philosophy

Deans of Faculty

• Barry Ife (Spanish, now Principal at Guildhall): August 1989 - July 1997
• Linda Newson (Geography, also Director at ILAS): August 1997 - July 2000
• Michael Knibb (Theology, retired): August 2000 - July 2001
• David Ricks (CHS/CompLit): August 2001 - July 2004
• Ann Thompson (English, retired): August 2004 - December 2007
• Jan Palmowski (German, now Pro-VC at Warwick): January 2008 - December 2012
• Simon Gaunt (French): January 2013 - December 2013
• Russell Goulbourne (French): January 2014 -

Notable alumni

^[6][7]

• 
  Lord Carey
• 
  Alain de Botton
• 
  Anne Dudley
• 
  John Eliot Gardiner
• 
  Greer Garson
• 
  W. S. Gilbert
• 
  Thomas Hardy
• 
  Tom Hiddleston^[8][9]
• 
  Anthony Hopkins^[10][11]
• 
  Michael Morpurgo
• 
  Michael Nyman
• 
  Mark Rylance^[12][13]
• 
  John Ruskin
• 
  Jonathan Sacks
• 
  David Tang
• 
  Desmond Tutu
• 
  Virginia Woolf

• Nick Barratt, genealogist. Studied History.
• Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House. Studied Classics.
• Rory Bremner FKC, Scottish impressionist, playwright and comedian. Studied French and German.
• Anita Brookner CBE FKC (1928–2016), novelist and art historian. Studied History.
• David Bruce, composer, currently commissioned to write a new piece for clarinet & string quartet for the Carnegie Hall. Awarded a PhD in Composition in music, under the supervision of Sir Harrison Birtwistle.
• George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton, PC, FKC, was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002.
• Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton. Studied postgraduate History.
• Richard Cheetham, Anglican Bishop of Kingston upon Thames. Studied Theology & Religious Education.
• Josh Cooper (1901-1981), English cryptographer. Studied Russian at King's & was later member of the Government Code & Cipher School.
• Mike Dash, Welsh writer, journalist and researcher (who did a "...particularly obscure PhD thesis, entitled British Submarine Policy 1853–1918" in War Studies, then in the School of Arts & Humanities). Dash worked for 20 years as contributing editor and publisher of the journal Fortean Times.
• Alain de Botton FRSL, writer, philosopher, television presenter and entrepreneur. Studied Philosophy
• Maureen Duffy FKC, poet, playwright and novelist - her novel Capital includes oblique but unmistakable references to King's. Studied English.
• Anne Dudley, Oscar and Grammy award-winning English composer and pop musician. Studied Music.
• Natascha Engel, MP for North East Derbyshire. Studied German & Portuguese.
• John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor and Grammy winner.
• Greer Garson (1904-1996) CBE, actress. Studied French.
• W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) librettist and illustrator known for fourteen comic Savoy operas produced under the famed Gilbert and Sullivan theatrical partnership.
• Jonathan Gill, member of the British boyband JLS.
• Harry Golombek, international chess grandmaster and wartime codebreaker. Studied Philology.
• Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), famous English novelist and poet and a Victorian realist
• Susan Hill CBE FKC, English author of fiction and non-fiction. Studied English.
• Garry Kilworth, fantasy and historical novelist. Studied English.
• Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), novelist, author of The Water-Babies.
• John Kittmer, British Ambassador to Greece. Studied Modern Greek Studies.
• Hanif Kureishi, playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. Studied Philosophy.
• Fiona Mactaggart, MP for Slough. Studied English.
• Alice Martineau (1972-2003) was an English pop singer and songwriter, studied English.
• Dianna Melrose, British diplomat, ambassador to Cuba. Studied French and Spanish.
• Michael Morpurgo OBE FKC, author, poet, playwright and librettist. Studied English and French.
• Michael Nyman, English pianist, librettist and musicologist and an Oscar-award winning composer. Studied Music.
• Sarah Newton, MP for Truro and Falmouth. Studied History.
• Wendy Piatt, Director General of The Russell Group of UK universities. Studied English.
• Princess Antonia, daughter of Prince Frederick of Prussia. Studied English.
• John Ruskin, leading English art critic/patron of the Victorian era, and a famous draughtsman, watercolorist as well as a philanthropist. Studied English Literature.
• Jonathan Sacks, a Templeton Prize winner, he served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Studied Philosophy.
• Elizabeth Smart (1913 - 1986), Canadian poet and novelist. Her book, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, detailed her romance with the poet George Barker. Studied Music.
• Anne Somerset, writer of well regarded historical books, the first being The Life & Times of William IV. Her acclaimed biography was on Elizabeth I was published in 1991. Studied History.
• David Tang, Hongkong businessman and founder of Shanghai Tang international clothing chain. Studied Philosophy.
• Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West since 1997. Studied History.
• Paddy Tomkins QPM, appointed Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland by Royal Warrant in March 2007. Studied History.
• Jane Tranter, English television executive. Studied English Literature.
• Desmond Tutu FKC, former Archbishop of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Laureate. Studied Theology.
• Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), an English writer and one of the foremost modernists of the 20th century. Studied Languages and History.
• Yiruma, famous South Korean pianist and composer. Studied Music.