History Department Staff
Head of Department
Dr John Parker
Deputy Head of Department
Professor William Gervase Clarence-Smith
Undergraduate Tutor
UG Admissions Tutor
MA Convenor / Admissions Tutor
Research Tutor
T H Barrett
Research Professor of East Asian History
History of Chinese religion, notably Taoism and Buddhism; pre-modern Chinese history, especially the Tang period - Tel: 020 7898 4765
- Email: tb2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 451a
Teresa Bernheimer
Lecturer in the History of the Near and Middle East
Islamic History to 1200; social history of elites in early Islam, especially 'Alid family; documentary and material evidence from Late Antiquity to early Islam; origins and development of Shi'ism; early Islamic Iran
- Tel: 020 7898 4605
- Email: tb31@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 306
- Office Hours: Mondays 3:30-5pm
Ian Brown
Professor of Economic History of SE Asia
The modern economic and political history of South East Asia; the economic impact of the inter-war depression on South East Asia - Tel: 020 7898 4607
- Email: ib@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 4411
Michael W. Charney
Reader in South East Asian and Imperial History
The history of Buddhist societies in South and Southeast Asia and of culture, technology, and warfare in colonial Africa and Asia - Tel: 020 7898 4612
- Email: mc62@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 326
- Office Hours: Wednesdays 12-1pm
William Gervase Clarence-Smith
Professor of the Economic History of Asia and Africa
History of Islam, sexuality, diasporas, slavery, stimulants, rubber, livestock and textiles, with special reference to Maritime South East Asia - Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4608
- Email: wc2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 313
- Office Hours: Term 2 - Thursdays 3-5pm
Wayne Dooling
Senior Lecturer in African History
Early colonial South African history; slavery and emancipation in the Cape Colony - Tel: 020 7898 4628
- Email: wd2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 318
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 12.30-2.30pm
Roy Fischel
Lecturer in the History of South Asia
History of precolonial South Asia, in particular Muslim polities and societies; the Deccan, 1300-1700; South Asia and the early modern Muslim world.
- Tel: 020 7898 4643
- Email: rf26@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 312
- Office Hours: Wednesdays 11am-1pm
Benjamin Fortna
Professor in the History of the Middle East
Modern Middle Eastern History, the late Ottoman empire, late Ottoman education and literature - Tel: 020 7898 4632
- Email: bf7@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 300
- Office Hours: Mondays 2-3pm
Nelida Fuccaro
Reader in the Modern History of the Middle East
Modern Middle Eastern history, especially Iraq, Persian Gulf and Syria; urban history; history of violence; social and cultural history of oil ; colonialism, ethnicity and nationalism; Kurdish history - Tel: 020 7898 4618
- Email: nf2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 308
- Office Hours: All Year - Mondays 2-4pm (during term time)
Christopher Gerteis
Lecturer in the History of Contemporary Japan
Modern and Contemporary Japanese history. Social and cultural history of the 20th century, especially the intersection of consumer capitalism and historical memory.
- Tel: 020 7898 4093
- Email: cg24@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 304
- On Sabbatical:AY 2012-13
Konrad Hirschler
Reader in the History of the Near and Middle East
Cultural and social history of the premodern Middle East; historiography; history of reading; Crusades in the Middle East
- Tel: 020 7898 4602
- Email: kh20@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 324
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-4pm (and by appointment)
Andrea Janku
Senior Lecturer in the History of China
China, Social and Cultural History; The Early Press and the History of Communication; Environmental History
- Tel: 020 7898 4636
- Email: aj7@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 310
- Office Hours: Thursdays 11am-12pm
Lars Laamann
Lecturer in the History of China
Popular religions in early modern China (16th-20th cc); Christianity in china (18th-20th cc); Opium and other narcotics (18th-20th cc); Manchu history (16th-20th cc)
- Tel: 020 7898 4634
- Email: ll10@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 323
- Office Hours: Mondays - Fridays 10-11am (and by appointment)
Angus Lockyer
Lecturer in the History of Japan
Modernisation and modernity in Japan; world’s fairs, international and industrial exhibitions - Tel: 020 7898 4626
- Email: al21@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 316
- Office Hours: All Year - Mondays 3:30-5pm and by appointment
Eleanor Newbigin
Lecturer in the History of Modern South Asia
History of modern South Asia, particularly the transition to independence; gender, family and law in colonial and post-colonial India
- Tel: 020 7898 4625
- Email: en2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 307
- Office Hours: Wed 12:00-13:30 / Thurs 11:30-12:30
John Parker
Senior Lecturer in the History of Africa
Early modern and modern West African history, especially social and political history of Ghana - Tel: 020 7898 4635
- Email: jp23@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 305
- Office Hours: Term 2 - Tuesdays 9am-12pm
Richard Reid
Professor of the History of Africa
Warfare in Eastern Africa; Politics of the Horn
- Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4774
- Email: rr15@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 322
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 12-2pm
Peter Robb
Research Professor of the History of India
The history of modern South Asia; early Calcutta, c.1780-1830, Indian agrarian history, especially Bihar and Eastern India.
- Tel: 0207 898 4614
- Email: pr4@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 4411
Marie Rodet
Lecturer in the History of Africa
Modern West African history, especially social and gender history of Western Mali, history of West African slavery and emancipation.
- Tel: 020 7898 4606
- Email: mr28@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 309
- Office Hours: All Year - Wednesdays 11am-1pm (during term time)
Mandy Sadan
Lecturer in the History of South East Asia
Ethnicity and conflict in mainland South East Asia, cultural production, non-national histories of Eastern Himalayas and South East Asian Massif and the South, South East and East Asian borderworlds of Burma
- Tel: 020 7898 4622
- Email: ms114@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 302
- Office Hours: Tues 11:30-12:30, Wed 11:30-12:30 & 5-6pm
Shabnum Tejani
Senior Lecturer in the History of Modern South Asia
Nineteenth and twentieth century social and intellectual history, particularly of the Bombay Presidency; communalism and nationalism in India; debates around secularism and religious intolerance
- Tel: 020 7898 4613
- Email: st40@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 314
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-4.30pm, Wednesdays 3-5pm and by
Teaching Fellows
Marisa Candotti
Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4773
- Email: mc85@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 481
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 3-4pm
George Lane
Senior Teaching Fellow in the History of the Middle East and Central Asia
Current research concerns the presence of Persians in Yuan (Mongol) China. Teaching concentrates on Mediaeval Persia. Involved in IFCELS with the Lord Chancellor's programme for Chinese Lawyers since the early 90s as well as pre-sessionals and ELAS. - Tel: 020 7898 4285
- Email: gl1@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 303
- Office Hours: All Year - Fridays 1:30-3:30pm (during term time)
Jack Lord
Senior Teaching Fellow
History of childhood in colonial Ghana, c.1900-57. I teach courses on Africa in the twentieth century and the history of childhood and youth in Africa.
- Tel: 020 7898 4626
- Email: Jl79@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 316
- Office Hours: All Year - Tuesdays 1:30-3pm (during term time)
Matthew Phillips
Senior Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4612
- Email: mp51@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 326
- Office Hours: Fridays 1-3pm
Khodadad Rezakhani
Senior Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4627
- Email: kr10@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 311
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-2pm
Amrita Shodhan
Senior Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4627
- Email: as115@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 311
- Office Hours: All Year - Wed 1:30-3:30pm (during term time)
Martyn Smith
Senior Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4626
- Email: ms126@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 316
- Office Hours: Wednesdays 1-2pm
Stefano Taglia
Senior Teaching Fellow
Nationalism, Ottomanism, Science-Islam synthesis, Freemasonry
- Tel: 020 7898 4567
- Email: st42@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 311/511
- Office Hours: Thursdays 11am-1pm, room 311, or by appointment
Michael Talbot
Senior Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4627
- Email: michael.talbot@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 311
- Office Hours: Fridays 4-5pm
Hannah Whittaker
Senior Teaching Fellow
History of Northern Kenya; Pastoralism; Banditry; Somali Nationalism
- Tel: 020 7898 4093
- Email: hw23@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 304
- Office Hours: All Year - Thursdays 11-1 (during term time)
Philipp Wirtz
Senior Teaching Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4773
- Email: 220643@soas.ac.uk
- Office Hours: by appointment only (pw10@soas.ac.uk)
Research Associates
Nur Masalha
Professorial Research Associate
Modern Middle Eastern history and politics; Holy Land studies
- Email: nm59@soas.ac.uk
Valentina Boretti
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow
- Tel: 020 7898 4603
- Email: vb16@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 4416
James R Brennan
Research Associate
History of urbanisation and nationalism in modern East Africa; Indian ocean diasporas
- Email: jb2@soas.ac.uk
James McDougall
Research Associate
Modern and contemporary North Africa; historiography; imperialism and nationalism.
- Email: jm56@soas.ac.uk
Raquel Reyes
Research Associate
Cultural studies, sexuality, history of medicine, Philippines and South East Asia.
- Email: rr14@soas.ac.uk
Emeritus Staff
G R Hawting
Emeritus Professor
Pre-modern Islamic and Middle Eastern history; the origins and early development of Islam in the Middle East - Email: gh@soas.ac.uk
Avril A Powell
Emeritus Reader
Islam in South Asia; Mughal history; Muslim-Christian relations - Email: ap5@soas.ac.uk






