Department of History
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About the department
Research
Lifelong Learning
Mr Alexander Cummins
Part-Time Teacher
Consultation hours (PDF, 66kB)
Email: hiajc@bristol.ac.uk
Thesis Title
Magical Approaches to the Passions in Seventeenth-century England
Research interests
My doctoral research looks at the ways in which the experience and expression of emotions were mapped, managed and manipulated according to occult theory and practice in early modern Europe, concentrating on England in the 1600s. I am interested in early modern divination systems (especially astrology and geomancy), cunning-craft and "folk magic", evocation, sorcery and enchantment, as well as medical history (concentrating on humoural theory in particular) along with broader histories of philosophy and religion which explore the interrelation of body, mind and soul.
Teaching
- Special Topic: Revolution and Theory, Britain 1603-1689
Papers presented
'Amulets of Seventeenth-Century England', at 'Science and Magic: Ways of Knowing in the Early Modern World', Princeton University, 2011.
'By Points of the Earth: Geomancy in Seventeenth-Century England', at 'Renaissance and Early Modern Symposium', University of Bristol, 2011.