Senior Reader

Professor Nick Barber joined the Oxford Law Faculty in 1998 as a Fixed Term Fellow at Brasenose, moving to a tenured Fellowship at Trinity College in 2000. He holds an MA from Oxford and the BCL, and is a non-practicing barrister and member of Middle Temple. In 2013 he was appointed University Lecturer in Constitutional Law and in 2017 he was appointed Professor of Constitutional Law and Theory. In 2012 and 2013 he was a visiting Professor at Renmin University, China. He has lectured extensively on constitutional law and theory in many countries. He has published many papers in these areas, and his book The Constitutional State was published in 2011, and was widely reviewed. His second book, The Principles of Constitutionalism, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018. Professor Barber was founding editor of the United Kingdom Constitutional Law Blog, and was a co-author, with Jeff King and Tom Hickman, of the blog post that sparked the litigation in Miller, a post which first advanced the arguments eventually adopted by the High Court and Supreme Court. Alongside Richard Ekins, he is co-director of The Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government.

Senior Reader

Professor Stephanie Barclay is a Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School, and the Faculty Co-Director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Her research focuses on the role our different democratic institutions play in protecting minority rights, particularly at the intersection of free speech and religious exercise. Barclay‘s work is published or is forthcoming in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, the Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal Forum. One of her articles was also selected for the 2020 Stanford/Harvard/Yale Junior Faculty Forum. Barclay is also a Faculty Affiliate at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School. She is reading a DPhil in Law as a Tang Scholar and Clarendon Scholar at Balliol College on the appropriate role of the judiciary in a democracy.

Senior Reader

Dr Teresa M. Bejan is Associate Professor of Political Theory and a Fellow of Oriel College, University of Oxford. Before coming to Oxford in 2015, she taught at the University of Toronto and Columbia University. Her work brings early modern perspectives to bear on questions in contemporary political theory. She is the author of Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration (2017), as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She is currently completing her second book for Harvard University Press, First Among Equals: Early Modern Equality in Practice and Theory.

Senior Reader

Dr Jan C. Bentz is a lecturer in philosophy at Blackfriars Studium and an Associate Member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and additional degrees in Sacred Art and in Church, Ecumenism, and Religious Studies. His research focuses on Thomism and the trajectory of metaphysical thought from the medieval to the modern period, with particular interest in the work of Gustav Siewerth, John Duns Scotus, G. W. F. Hegel, and contemporary critiques of transhumanism. He is co-editing forthcoming volumes on Thomas Molnar and transhumanism as a modern Gnostic ideology, and has recently translated Romano Guardini’s Der Gegensatz into English. Dr Bentz also teaches for Memoria College (KY, USA) and is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest. In addition to his academic work, he is active as a writer, cultural commentator, and interviewer. His ongoing video series Reality Check explores themes in philosophy, theology, and the crisis of modernity through conversations with leading scholars and thinkers. He lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and three children.

Senior Reader

Professor Paul Billingham is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Magdalen College. Previously, he was a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church, Oxford, having also studied at Oxford (BA, MPhil, DPhil). His work focuses on the implications for politics of the diversity of citizens’ beliefs and values, especially in relation to religious beliefs. He is currently working on a debate book entitled Does Faith Belong in Politics?.

Senior Reader

Dr Nuno Castel-Branco is a Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. He completed his PhD in the history of science at Johns Hopkins University in 2021 after earning an MSc in Physics at the University of Lisbon. Previously, he was a research fellow at Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti in Florence and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. He studies the intellectual and social intersections between the life sciences, mathematics, and religion in the early modern period. His first and forthcoming book, The Traveling Anatomist, uses Nicolaus Steno as a tour guide for science, medicine, and religion in seventeenth-century Europe. He has written in platforms as varied as the Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, and research journals like Renaissance Quarterly and Isis. He is also the Academic Director at the Canterbury Institute.

Senior Reader

Dr Mehmet Ciftci is a Researcher and Custodian of the Library at Pusey House, Oxford. Previously he was Étienne Gilson Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto and the Public Bioethics Fellow at the Anscombe Bioethics Centre. After undergraduate studies at the University of Manchester, he received the PGDip, MPhil, and DPhil in Theology from the University of Oxford. He has published widely in academic journals on various subjects, such as liberation theology, the Qur’an, the critique of political ideologies, and Mariology. He published a monograph entitled Vatican II on Church-State Relations: What Did the Council Teach, and What's Wrong With It? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). His future research will be on the theological origins of constitutionalism. 

Senior Reader

Elizabeth Crabtree is a Junior Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. She was awarded her DPhil in Theology in 2025. Her research interests lie in the Christian interpretation of the Bible in the Middle Ages, and especially in how recourse to Jewish sources shaped a Christian understanding of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. Her doctoral project explores the biblical exegesis of Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349), interrogating the relationship between the ‘senses of scripture’ the Franciscan employed as a basis for his two commentaries on the Bible, alongside the role of Jewish sources in his interpretation.

Senior Reader

Dr Marysia Czepiel is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at Warwick. She is interested in humanism, religion and literature in the Spanish Golden Age, and has published widely on the Spanish and Neo-Latin poetry of the sixteenth century. Her forthcoming monograph (Humanism and the Bible in the Poetry of Benito Arias Montano (ca. 1525–1598)) studies the complex relationship between religion and humanist learning in the poetry of the humanist Benito Arias Montano. At Warwick, she will be studying how late sixteenth-century humanists used their learning to campaign for social change.

Senior Reader

Dr Edward A. David is the Director of the Associateship of King’s College and Lecturer in Ethics & Values at King’s College London. Most recently, he was the McDonald Postdoctoral Fellow in Christian Ethics & Public Life at Christ Church, Oxford. His current research investigates the religious and spiritual role models of Generation Z. Edward also publishes in various fields of applied ethics, and is the author of A Christian Approach to Corporate Religious Liberty (2020) and Leadership by Example (2025). In addition to his academic work, Edward is a senior consultant for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses UK programme, and is a lead author of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women programme on Coursera. Edward holds a Bachelor of Music from New York University as well as an MSt and DPhil in Theology (Christian Ethics) from the University of Oxford.

Senior Reader

Professor Richard Ekins KC is Professor of Law and Constitutional Government in the University of Oxford and a Fellow of St John’s College.  He is also a Global Distinguished Professor of Law in Notre Dame Law School. He received his BA, LLB (Hons) and BA (Hons) degrees from The University of Auckland, before going on to read for the BCL, MPhil and DPhil at Oxford.  He was a Senior Lecturer in Law at The University of Auckland for several years before moving (back) to Oxford. He leads Policy Exchange’s Judicial Power Project and, with Nick Barber and Timothy Endicott, the Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government.  He serves as co-editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence and was made King's Counsel Honoris Causa in 2022. Professor Ekins additionally serves on the Canterbury Institute’s Academic Committee for selection of the Barry Scholarship.

Senior Reader

Paul Elbourne is Professor of the Philosophy of Language at Oxford University and Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford. He read Greats and completed an MPhil in Indo-European comparative philology at Oxford before doing his PhD at MIT. There he followed the interdisciplinary PhD programme in semantics, which involves training in linguistics and philosophy. Before coming to Oxford, he taught at Marlboro College, New York University, and Queen Mary, University of London. He works mainly on natural language semantics and the philosophy of language. He also has research interests in ethics.

Senior Reader

Professor John Finnis taught at Oxford from 1966 to 2010, as a Law Fellow of University College and from 1989 as ad hominem Professor of Law & Legal Philosophy; from 1995 to 2020 he also held a chaired professorship at Notre Dame Law School. He is a Fellow of the British Academy in both the law and the philosophy sections, and an honorary KC. His publications range across jurisprudence, constitutional law, bioethics, and moral and political philosophy, as well as historical issues both in and around Shakespeare and, currently, in and around the New Testament. Oxford University Press published his widely translated Natural Law & Natural Rights (1980; 2nd ed. 2011) and, also in 2011, five thematic volumes of over a hundred of his essays: I.Reason in Action;  II.Intention & Identity;  III.Human Rights & Common Good;  IV. Philosophy of Law;  V. Religion & Public Reasons.

Senior Reader

Charles Foster is a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford, a member of the Law Faculty (where he is a Visiting Professor), a Senior Research Associate at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, a Research Associate at the Ethox and Helex Centres, and an Associate at the Oxford Human Rights Hub, all at the University of Oxford. He is also a barrister, practising at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square, and a part time judge of the Crown Court and the County Court. He has been involved in many of the key cases in medical law and ethics over recent years, including the assisted suicide litigation in the House of Lords, the Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights. His research primarily concerns questions of identity and personhood, the use in medical law and ethics of the notion of human dignity, and the use of abuse of the principle of autonomy. He is the author of many academic books and hundreds of articles, and publishes widely outside academia - for instance the New York Times Bestseller Being a Beast, which also won the IgNobel Prize for Biology. A complete list of publications can be found at www.charlesfoster.co.uk.

Senior Reader

Dr William Ghosh is Associate Professor of World Literatures in English at the University of Oxford, and an Official Student of Christ Church. Prior to this, he taught Victorian and Modern Literature at Jesus College, Oxford. He works on writing from Britain, the Caribbean, and South Asia from 1800 onwards, with particular interests in prose form and technique and in literary pedagogy. His publications include a monograph, V.S. Naipaul, Caribbean Writing, and Caribbean Thought (Oxford University Press, 2021). He was a founding convenor of the Oxford University Caribbean Studies Network, and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Senior Reader

Dr Cosima Clara Gillhammer is a Career Development Fellow in Medieval English at Lady Margaret Hall. Previously, she was a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church and a Stipendiary Lecturer at Trinity College, Oxford. Previous positions include that of Postdoctoral Researcher at the English Faculty, Oxford, and Erika and Kenneth Riley Fellow at the Huntington Library, California. She holds a DPhil in Medieval English from the University of Oxford, and two postgraduate degrees in English Linguistics and Literature, German Literature, and Classical Archaeology from LMU University of Munich. Her research focuses on textual criticism, medieval English Bible translation and biblical scholarship, and manuscript studies. She is the founder of the Oxford Medieval Commentary Network, an interdisciplinary forum which brings together research on commentary as a textual form. Her most recent book looks at the cultural impact of liturgical texts in Light on Darkness: The Untold Story of the Liturgy (Reaktion, forthcoming April 2025).

Senior Reader

Sherif Girgis is Associate Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. His work in constitutional law and theory has appeared in venues including the Columbia Law Review, the New York University Law Review, the Virginia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the American Journal of Jurisprudence. He is coauthor of What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense (Encounter, 2012), and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination (Oxford University Press, 2017). He served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Thomas Griffith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Now completing a Ph.D. in philosophy at Princeton, Girgis earned a J.D. at Yale Law School, a master’s (BPhil) in philosophy from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and a bachelor’s degree from Princeton, Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. Professor Girgis serves on the Academic Committee of the Canterbury Institute’s Barry Scholarship.

Senior Reader

Dr Connor K. Grubaugh is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University and, from 2025, Assistant Professor in the School of Civic Life & Leadership at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He read for the DPhil in Politics at Oxford after studying at the University of Notre Dame and the University of California, Berkeley. A political theorist and intellectual historian, his work examines concepts of hope, time, and history in political thought. His research is published or forthcoming in Perspectives on Politics and other journals, and his writing has also appeared in popular outlets such as First Things and Tablet. He serves as editor of the interdisciplinary humanities journal Politics & Poetics, a publication of the Canterbury Institute.

Senior Reader

Dr Daniel D. De Haan is the Frederick Copleston Senior Research Fellow & Lecturer in Philosophy and Theology in the Catholic Tradition at Blackfriars and Campion Hall, University of Oxford. He is the principal investigator of the Conceptual Clarity Concerning Human Nature project sponsored by the Templeton World Charity Foundation and hosted by the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on philosophical anthropology, philosophy of mind and neuroscience, moral psychology, the metaphysics of hylomorphism, philosophy of religion, and medieval philosophy and theology especially in the work of Thomas Aquinas and Avicenna. He is the author of Necessary Existence and the Doctrine of Being in Avicenna’s Metaphysics of the Healing (Brill, 2020).

Senior Reader

Dr Victoria De Haan is a lector in Catholic Theology at Blackfriars Studium, Oxford. She obtained her doctorate in theology from KU Leuven, Belgium, and was the recipient of a PhD fellowship from the Flemish Research Fund. Her doctoral thesis examined the work of the Russian Orthodox theologian Alexander Schmemann and its relation to Catholic mission of the new evangelization. She teaches a range of subjects within systematic theology, with a special focus on liturgy and sacramental theology, the Church Fathers, especially St Augustine, and Vatican II.

Senior Reader

Dr Andrew Hegarty is a graduate of Merton College, University of Oxford, and obtained his DPhil from the same University. A historian, he specialises academically in the history of universities, particularly Oxford, Salamanca and Paris, and that above all in the early-modern period. Some years ago he investigated the role of the Spanish Dominican, Bartolomé de Carranza in reforming the University of Oxford in the reign of Queen Mary Tudor. He has contributed nearly two dozen entries to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. He was Assistant Editor of, and a significant contributor to, a comprehensive history of Magdalen College, Oxford, from the fifteenth century to the present day. A lengthy prosopographical work on the members of St. John’s College, Oxford, in its first century to 1660, was published in 2011. He is interested in Church history and has written on interventions by academics in early-modern Church-State relations. The first volume of the recent History of Oxford University Press contains a chapter and a number of other contributions by him. He has served as Warden of a hall of residence for students in London. Since 2004 he has been Director of the Thomas More Institute in London. He continues to develop wider interests in the role of the university as an institution, and on friendship as a crucial ethical concept.

Senior Reader

Professor Zena Hitz is a Tutor at St John's College in Annapolis, where she has the joy of teaching great books of mathematics, science, and literature, as well as in her home fields of classics and philosophy. She received an MPhil in Classics from Cambridge University (1996) and a PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University (2005). Her most important scholarly work argues that Aristotle’s account of the influence of law on human character unifies his ethical and political works, illuminating what is lost when his thinking is carved into arbitrary parts by current academic disciplines. More recently, she has offered public defense for learning for its own sake and liberal education. Her book Lost In Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life (Princeton, 2020) is being translated into seven languages, including Arabic, Catalan, Turkish and Vietnamese. Her essays on the importance of humanistic study have appeared in Commonweal, New Statesman, Washington Post, Womankind and elsewhere. In 2020, she founded the Catherine Project, a non-profit which hosts serious conversations on great books, open to everyone. Her new book for general audiences, A Philosopher Looks at the Religious Life (Cambridge, 2023), gives an account of the Christian ascetical tradition and its importance in everyday life. Professor Hitz serves on the Canterbury Institute’s Academic Committee for selection of the Barry Scholarship.

Senior Reader

Dr. Christina Lamb is a bioethicist and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University (Canada) and a Research Associate at the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto (Canada). Dr Lamb was a Fellow in Science-Engaged Theology in the New Visions in Theological Anthropology project in the School of Divinity, University of St. Andrews (Scotland, 2020-22). Currently, Christina is a Visiting Academic to the Uehiro Oxford Institute and a Visiting Fellow at Exter College, University of Oxford. She has interdisciplinary expertise in health science, empirical research and the humanities, and clinical expertise in paediatric oncology acute care, clinical bioethics and Global Health / Bioethics. Dr Lamb directs an international program of research on conscience in the ‘Aletheia Conscience Project’ and she is also establishing a national program of research on end-of-life ethics for children as a New Investigator funded by the Sick Kids Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research - Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health. Dr Lamb also explores the medicalisation of death and the need to revalue dying and death as life events in healthcare. She is the author of ‘Conscience: The integrating aspect of being a moral person’ (in progress) and co-editor of 'The Meaning of Dying and Death for Children: Essential Concepts' with Professor Jonathan Herring, Exeter College. Conscience Research Website: www.Aletheiaconscience.org.

Senior Reader

Dr Anne Makena is the Programme Coordinator of the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx), a vibrant platform for all things Africa at Oxford. Dr Makena is responsible for developing and implementing the overall strategy of the Initiative, as well as managing core AfOx programmes. AfOx supports a wide range of activities including a travel grant scheme and visiting fellowships for African academics, supporting high quality meetings and providing academic and mentorship support to African students and research staff in Oxford. Dr Makena read her DPhil in Chemical Biology in Somerville College, Oxford.

Senior Reader

Dr Jasmine Jones is a Stipendiary Lecturer in English, 650–1550 at Christ Church and St Peter’s College, Oxford. Previously, she held Stipendiary Lectureships at Pembroke College and St Hugh’s College, Oxford. She holds a DPhil in English from St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where she was a Clarendon Scholar and the Bruce Mitchell Scholar of Old and Middle English. She also holds an MPhil in English Studies (Medieval Period) from Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she was the Abelian Scholar and, before that, she completed her BA (Hons) in English at University College London. Her research focuses on the theology of the earliest surviving texts in the English language — Old English religious verse composed by monastic poets around 700–850AD. Jasmine has recently published an article on early medieval English Mariology in The Review of English Studies as well as a book chapter in The Christian Literary Imagination by Vernon Press.  

Senior Reader

Fr Oskari Juurikkala is an Assistant Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome. His doctoral work in theology explored the metaphor of the book of nature and patristic and medieval theology. Fr Oskari is an academic visitor at Oxford's faculty of theology and religion researching the dialogue between cognitive psychology, neuroscience and fundamental theology. He is also a member of the Corpus Christi Centre for the Study of Roman and Greek Antiquity. Before moving into theology, Fr Oskari studied law at the London School of Economics and he has a doctorate in law from the University of Helsinki, where he specialised in behavioural law and economics. In his spare time, Fr Oskari enjoys walking in nature, listening to heavy metal, and chatting with students about everything between heaven and earth.

Senior Reader

Professor Mark Philp researches political theory and political sociology, most recently on justice in relation to ageing, political corruption and issues relating to standards in public life, as well as in the history of political thought and British history at the time of the French Revolution. He is currently working on the re-imagining of democracy at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, John Stuart Mill’s Autobiography, the Godwin Diaries, political realism and political ethics, and the history of political thought. Professor Philp chairs the Research Advisory Board to the Committee on Standards in Public Life and contributed the paper Public Ethics and Political Judgment to the Committee’s inquiry on Ethics in Practice in July 2014. From 2007-2010 he ran a three year digitization project on the Diary of William Godwin, 1788-1836, funded by a Leverhulme Major Research Grant. Professor Philp is the author of numerous books including Thomas Paine (Oxford University Press) and Political Conduct (Harvard University Press). He is Professor of History and Politics in the University of Warwick and resides in Oxford.

Senior Reader

Dr Jonathan Price holds a dual fellowship as Pusey Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford, and Barry Lay Academic Fellow of Pusey House - the continuing home of the Oxford Movement. He has been teaching philosophy and law in Blackfriars Hall since 2011. He is a visiting researcher at the University of Leiden Law School, and a Research Associate of the Programme for the Foundations of Law, in Oxford’s Faculty of Law. Dr Price is the founding editor of the peer-reviewed journal Politics & Poetics.

Senior Reader

Professor Christian Sahner is Associate Professor of Islamic History at the University of Oxford and Margoliouth Fellow in Arabic at New College. His work explores the history of North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia during the transition from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Professor Sahner is the author or editor of four books: Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present (Hurst/Oxford, 2014); Christian Martyrs under Islam (Princeton, 2018); Conversion to Islam in the Premodern Age (California, 2020, co-editor); and The Definitive Zoroastrian Critique of Islam (Liverpool, 2023). Born in New York City, he earned an AB from Princeton, an MPhil from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and a PhD also from Princeton. Prior to joining the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies in Oxford, he was a research fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge. He writes about the history, art, and culture of the Middle East from time to time for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Times Literary Supplement, and others.

Senior Reader

Dr Lola Salem is a scholar, consultant, and fundraiser in the fields of education, culture, and the arts. She graduated from the École Normale Supérieure (MA Musicology), the Sorbonne (MA Aesthetics and Philosophy of Arts), and the University of Oxford where she earned her D.Phil. in Music and Musicology. Dr Salem has taught Oxford undergraduate students from the Music Faculty, taking up the Lectureship in Music at Oriel College in 2022, also acting as Lecturer in French for Wadham and St Catherine's Colleges (2022-24). A Marshall Research Fellow, Dr Salem's academic research lies in the fields of opera, performers, and the art market in the early modern period, with a special interest in legal and economic history. Following her Civic Future Fellowship (2023-24), she explored further the intersection of culture and public policy, connecting dots between the past and today’s cultural landscape. She currently prepares a book, Artless, for a British publisher on the history, philosophy, and political reality of the cultural state. 

Senior Reader

Professor Santiago Schnell is the William K Warren Foundation Dean of the College of Science at the University of Notre Dame, as well as a professor of biological sciences and applied and computational mathematics and statistics. A Fellow of the Royal Societies of Chemistry and Medicine as well as the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he is also the winner of the 2023 Arthur Winfree Prize from the Society for Mathematical Biology. Dean Schnell’s research program derives from the premise that there is a continuum between health and disease, and he has made substantive contributions to the standardization of models and protocols to measure enzyme catalyzed reactions in the life sciences. He is internationally renowned for deriving the Lambert W function equation of enzyme kinetics, also known as the Schnell-Mendoza equation. Dean Schnell is a member of the American Academy of Sciences & Letters.

Senior Reader

Professor Tom Simpson is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, and a Senior Research Fellow at Wadham College. He is an AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker for 2017. Professor Simpson works particularly on trust, and issues at the intersection of technology and security. He convenes the speaker series Aspects of Conservatism. He joined the University of Oxford from Cambridge, where he was a Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, and was also educated (BA, MPhil, PhD). Between degrees he was an officer with the Royal Marines Commandos for 5 years. He served in Northern Ireland; Baghdad, Iraq; and Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The academic life is undoubtedly a privilege, but he remains conflicted about its sedentary nature.

Senior Reader

Audrey Southgate (DPhil, Merton) is a Lecturer in Old and Middle English in Lincoln and Hertford Colleges, University of Oxford. Her research concentrates on medieval literature, with a particular focus on Psalm reception in late medieval England. Her DPhil on Lollard translations of the Psalms served as a nexus for questions relating to biblical interpretation, poetic translation, the scholastic and devotional traditions, and the history and philosophy of education. More recently, she has begun a project on English translations of the Book of Hours and their putative influence on the Book of Common Prayer. She also composes poetry, and was recently awarded a prize from Oxford's English Faculty for her poem 'Saeculum'.  Audrey currently convenes the John Colet reading group at the Canterbury Institute, which explores the history and principles of 'classical' education, and has enjoyed helping to deliver the Awakening Project programme.

Senior Reader

Dr Eugenia Vorobeva is currently a post-award member at the English Faculty. She works as the librarian at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Eugenia was awarded her DPhil (University of Oxford) in 2025. Her research topic can be briefly summarised as saints, style, and suffering in Old Norse literary tradition. Her research interests lie at the intersection of medieval hagiography, emotions, and literary style. Eugenia holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in History from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow; she also holds an MSt in Medieval Studies from the University of Oxford. 

Senior Reader

Dr Michael Wee is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Global Mental Health Ethics at the University of Oxford Psychiatry Department, where he is part of the Neuroscience, Ethics and Society group. His current research is on the ethics of genomic research for neurodevelopmental disorders, with a particular focus on the ethics of cell line creation, philosophical issues surrounding informed consent especially for persons with intellectual disabilities, and the role of genomics in conceptualising mental illness. He completed his PhD in Philosophy at Durham University, with a thesis on ‘Action and Necessity: Wittgenstein’s On Certainty and the Foundations of Ethics’. His doctoral work examined the nature of normative reasoning and ethical concepts, through engagement with Wittgenstein's philosophy of language and logic, alongside Anscombe's thought on action and the practical syllogism. He is an Associate Research Fellow of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, where he is contributing to a project on ethics and the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and he is also a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Vatican’s bioethics advisory body.

Senior Reader

Dr Bond West teaches Old and Middle English at Regents Park College and holds a DPhil in English from Lincoln College, Oxford. His research specialism is the interplay between the Latin learning and the vernacular languages and literatures of medieval North Atlantic Europe, especially England, Iceland, and Ireland. He holds a BA in Classics and History from Baylor University, an MA in Medieval Icelandic Studies from the University of Iceland, and an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic from Cambridge. He is a former recipient of a Fulbright Research Grant in Iceland and Latin teacher.

Senior Reader

Professor Paul Yowell is a Fellow of Oriel College and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law. Previously, he was a lecturer at New College. He did his postgraduate studies at Oxford (DPhil, MPhil, BCL), having previously practiced law and studied in the U.S. (JD, BA, Baylor University). He is also on the adjunct faculty of the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Constitutional Rights and Constitutional Design: Moral and Empirical Reasoning in Judicial Review and co-author of Legislated Rights: Securing Human Rights through Legislation. He researches public law and legal theory, with particular interest in the separation of powers, constitutional theory, comparative constitutional law, and human rights.

Senior Reader

Dr Yuan Yi Zhu is Assistant Professor of International Relations and International Law at Leiden University and an Associate Member of Nuffield College, Oxford. He was previously a Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and a Lecturer in Politics at Pembroke College, Oxford. He was educated at McGill University (BA), the University of Cambridge (MPhil), and the University of Oxford (DPhil). His research interests are mainly in the areas of the history of the international order, public law and public international law, modern political and diplomatic history (with a focus on the British world and China), and euthanasia. He is the co-editor (with Dr Richard Johnson) of Sceptical Perspectives on the Changing Constitution of the United Kingdom, and is currently working on two books, on state death and on Canadian identity. In addition to his academic research, Dr Zhu has widely published for a lay readership, and he has advised senior policy-makers in several countries.

Middle Reader

Howard Anglin is reading for the DPhil in Law at Linacre College. He previously received an MPhil in Law (with distinction) from Oxford, a JD from New York University, and a BA (with honours) in English Literature at McGill University. Before coming to Oxford, he served as Principal Secretary to the Premier of Alberta, Canada, as Chief of Staff to the Canadian Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and as Senior Advisor - Legal Affairs, Deputy Chief of Staff, and Acting Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada. He also clerked on the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, practiced law in London and Washington, DC, and was the executive director of a legal charity defending constitutional rights and freedoms in Canada. Howard is a recipient of a scholarship from the Programme for the Foundations of Law and Constitutional Government, and a Scholarship in Legal Philosophy from the Canterbury Institute. His MPhil thesis considered the impact of judicial review on the process of governing and suggested why and how governments might resist internalising the judicial perspective as they govern. His DPhil research explores the concept of a constitution. Howard is a regular contributor to print and online publications in Canada on topics ranging from law, political philosophy, and public policy to literature, food, and drink.

Middle Reader

Ardaschir Arguelles is reading for the MPhil in Traditional East Asia at Queen’s College. Born in South Korea, Ardaschir grew up in Lebanon, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. He graduated from Columbia University summa cum laude in 2024 with a double major in Classics and East Asian Studies. His academic interests include translation theory; the transmission of religious texts along the Silk Road; the spread of Buddhism into East Asia; Christian missions to Asia; and the relationship between religion and literary imagination. While at Columbia, Ardaschir was a student leader at Columbia Christian Union Lumine, served as podcast host and director for the Columbia Witness, and played for the men’s club rugby team. Outside of academics, his main pursuit is creative writing, especially short fiction and travel writing. Ardaschir is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Karl Berg is a DPhil candidate in Ancient History within the Faculty of Classics at Oxford. His primary research interests lie in the political and cultural history of Roman Antiquity (particularly during the high and late empire), though he also maintains strong research interests in early Christianity and Classics more broadly. He holds an M.A. in Early Christian Studies (a combined degree in Classics and Theology) from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in Classical and Roman Archaeology from Durham University, and a B.A. in History and German from Hillsdale College. His present research examines the political and religious phenomenon commonly termed the ‘Roman Imperial Cult’ and its evolution between the late-second and fifth centuries A.D. He is a member Lincoln College and a Clarendon Scholar. 

Middle Reader

Cayla Bleoaja is reading for a DPhil in Science and Religion as a Laudato Si Ecotheology Scholar at Campion Hall and a Harvey Fellow. She previously completed an MSc in Sociology as a Barry Scholar and an MSt in Theology as a Peter Harrison Fellow. She has been awarded the Peacocke Prize and the A. H. Halsey Prize for best thesis. Cayla spent a year in Romania as a Fulbright research scholar and has backpacked across 50 countries. She is a performing artist, published poet, and friend to all trees.

Middle Reader

Robert Bork is a student of St Hugh’s College reading for the DPhil in History. He previously read for the MPhil in Intellectual History and graduated with merit in 2023. Prior to coming to Oxford, Robert completed a BA with distinction in Political Philosophy, Policy, and Law from the University of Virginia. His research explores the influence of Adam Smith on American law and jurisprudence. By examining court opinions, records, oral arguments, textbooks, and academic materials, Robert looks to identify concrete examples of how the Scottish Enlightenment philosopher and economist continues to shape the American legal system. Robert is also co-president of the Disraeli Society for Law & Liberty, a society for the study of British, American, and European Law.

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Trent Bunker is reading for the MPhil in Intellectual History at Queen’s College. He graduated from Tufts University summa cum laude with a double major in Political Science and History, where his research centered on the interplay between faith, politics, and the law. Trent founded the Tufts Tribune, a magazine dedicated to publishing diverse perspectives, and established a Federalist Society chapter on campus, hosting dialogues between academics and students alike. Outside of class, Trent has held a fellowship with the Hertog Foundation, interned on Capitol Hill, and conducted research for multiple law firms. After completing his MPhil, Trent will attend Harvard Law School. In his free time, he enjoys playing lacrosse, weightlifting, and learning languages. Trent is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Maria Buscemi is reading for the MPhil in US History at St Antony’s College. She graduated from the University of Oklahoma, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in Letters: Constitutional Studies and Spanish. While at OU, she served as Vice Chair of Adjudications for the University’s Integrity Council and President of the Oklahoma Undergraduate Mock Trial Team. She also served as a member of the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage’s Society of Fellows. At Oxford, she is examining the relationship between constitutional theory, the law, and political action in antebellum America. In her free time, Maria enjoys baking new recipes, reading a good book, and training for the next half marathon in her local area. Maria is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Laura Calnan is reading for the DPhil in History at Lincoln College. She completed her undergraduate degree in History at the University of Edinburgh, where she developed a deep interest in the religious writings of medieval women mystics. Her dissertation on this topic earned her the Annabella Kirkpatrick Prize, and she received the Rev. A.E.L Paterson Prize for best performance in Medieval History in her final year. She remained at Edinburgh for her MSc, refining her focus on how medieval women navigated questions of spiritual authority and self-presentation through the language of humility. Now at Oxford, she continues this work, exploring how humility functioned both as a rhetorical strategy and a complex moral practice that shaped the self-expression, spiritual lives, and emotional experiences of women mystics in the later Middle Ages.

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Mariana Canales is reading for the DPhil in Law at St John’s College, where she read her MPhil in Law in 2021. She is interested in constitutional law and legal philosophy. Before coming to Oxford, she was a research fellow in the Institute for Social Studies (Instituto de Estudios de la Sociedad, IES) in Chile. She obtained her law degree from Universidad Católica and was appointed Adjunct Professor there in 2020.

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Sarah Chew is reading for the MSt in Theology (Science and Religion) at Keble College. Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, she received her BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Samford University, where she studied in the University Fellows honours program and served as a student ambassador. As an undergraduate, she has published articles about education, philosophy, and the liberal arts for online public journals and her campus literary journal. She has also held fellowships with the Hertog Foundation and the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy, through which she studied Soviet Russian literary censorship and received the prize for best scholarship. Her undergraduate thesis examined Iris Murdoch’s normative concept of attention in the context of new media. She plans to study the intersection of technology, ethics, and religion while at Oxford. Sarah is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Samuel Clark is reading for the MPhil in History (Intellectual History) at Oriel College. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, he studied the liberal arts at Deep Springs College, a small, two-year college located on a cattle ranch in the Californian desert. He then graduated from Brown University Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in Philosophy and Political Science. After graduating, he taught English to primary and middle school students in France and to high school students in Wisconsin. At Oxford, he plans to investigate the relationship between Thomas More and continental writers like Desiderius Erasmus and Niccolo Machiavelli. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, gardening, and the poetry of Edmund Spenser. Samuel is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Fernando is writing a DPhil dissertation in Law at Oriel College. His main interests lie in public law and practical philosophy. The topic of his thesis is the theory and practice of the invalidation of norms. Before beginning the DPhil he studied law in Chile (Universidad Católica), where he later lectured in civil procedural law, and then completed an MPhil degree (Oxford). His MPhil thesis focused on John Rawls’ account of the political, with special reference to the idea of public reason. Fernando has published papers in law and translated the revised edition of Lon Fuller’s The Morality of Law into Spanish.

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Nathan Coundon is a DPhil student in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, specialising in Philosophical Theology. He is a member of Trinity College and a recipient of the Bampton - Christie Millar Scholarship. Nathan has an MPhil in Philosophical Theology from Oxford, which he completed as a Clarendon Scholar. He also has a BA (Hons) Class I in Philosophy from the University of Leeds. Nathan’s doctoral research is situated in the disciplines of Philosophical Theology and Philosophy of Religion, and his work concerns the theory of Divine Simplicity developed by the Cappadocian Fathers. Nathan argues that Cappadocian Simplicity can transform the modern philosophical understanding of Divine Simplicity, whilst he also studies the relationship between Cappadocian Simplicity and other theories of Divine Simplicity, especially Thomism and Palamism. Nathan’s other research interests include theological epistemology and religious rationality, whilst his background in theoretical philosophy sustains his academic interest in Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Logic.

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Levi Freedman is reading for the BPhil in Philosophy at Oriel College. Originally from Washington, DC, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Chicago with a BA in Fundamentals: Issues and Texts. He is also an alumnus of Deep Springs College. His academic interests include German Idealism, existential phenomenology, and the relationship between philosophy and the arts. While at Chicago, he taught civics to middle school students on the South Side. He has worked as a high school teacher in rural Wisconsin, teaching both calculus and English. Outside of the classroom, Levi enjoys hiking, cooking, gardening, and reading poetry. Levi is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Colton Duncan reads for the DPhil in Classical Languages and Literature at St. Catherine's College. His dissertation research considers early compilations of Presocratic fragments in the German academy. As a Barry Scholar ('23) he completed his MPhil in Modern Languages (German & Italian) with distinction, having worked on German Romanticism, 18th & 19th century Classical philology, translation theory, and the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. His MPhil thesis handled early translations of Dante's Divine Comedy into German, arguing that Romanticism's greater appreciation for the Comedy's structural qualities allowed for increasing appreciation for the Purgatorio and Paradiso, and consequently for Dante himself as an author. Colton is a proud alumnus of Hillsdale College (Class of 2023), where he received his BA summa cum laude majoring in Classics and International Studies in Business & Foreign Language. He likes to cook.

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Jessie Edgar is reading for a DPhil in Musicology at Linacre college and is affiliated with the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics. She graduated from Columbia University with honours in music and psychology and went on to complete an MPhil in musicology at Lincoln College. Her work focuses on the effects of age-related hearing impairment on ensemble singing, looking at the physiological, acoustic and psychological results of aging on the voice. Her previous work detailed the vocal health ramifications of the idealised boy treble tone on female sopranos in Oxbridge chapel choirs. Jessie is published in the Journal of Women in Music and has discussed her work at conferences around the United Kingdom. She is also a professional soprano and has worked with the Oxford Bach Soloists, the Magdalen Consort, Instruments of Time & Truth consort, Edward Higginbottom, Orchestra Vox, and many other Oxford and London-based ensembles. In addition to ensemble work, her recent/upcoming work as a soloist involves much early opera, including Venus in Blow’s Venus and Adonis, Diane in Charpentier’s Acteon, Filia in Carissimi’s Jepthe, Handel’s Messiah, and Couperin’s Trois Leçons de Ténèbres.

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Nathan is reading for the DPhil in Philosophy at Oriel College with a project concerning the modal ontological argument for the existence of God. Prior to this he read PPE at Oriel College, an MA in Political Science at Baylor University and an MSt in Ancient Philosophy at Blackfriars Hall. His interests concern philosophy of religion, Aristotle, Aquinas, ethics, political philosophy, and metaphysics.

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Rose Elvidge is reading for the DPhil in Philosophy at Oriel College on a Faculty of Philosophy scholarship. She earned her BA in Philosophy from Baylor University, and her BPhil in Philosophy at Queens College. She focuses on issues of bio- and sexual ethics, especially abortion and sexual exploitation. Her wider interests include natural law theory, Aristotelian and Thomistic metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. Her dissertation seeks to critique value-neutral and relativist accounts of sex by raising contradictions within feminist attempts to make sense of sexual exploitation. She is also a Research Fellow of the Wollstonecraft Project of the Abigail Adams Institute, where she co-founded an online journal, Fairer Disputations, focusing on sex-realist feminism. She is married to fellow Philosophy DPhil and Middle Reader Nathan Elvidge and is pregnant with their second child. Rose Elvidge is a 2019 Barry Scholar.

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Paul Fine is reading for the DPhil in the Department of Theology and Religion (Wolfson College). He focuses on the history of American religion during the 20th century. In particular, he studies the development of American civil religion by the Eisenhower Administration, anti-Soviet religious propaganda, and the rise of religious pluralism in the United States. He has an MA in Historical Theology from Westminster Seminary California and a BAAS from the University of Pennsylvania. Before his studies he served in the US Marine Corps and the Foreign Service.

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Rachel Gambee is reading for the MPhil in Theology at Oriel College, Oxford. Rachel previously majored in Religion and Middle Eastern Studies in Dartmouth College. In her senior thesis, Rachel investigated the intellectual roots of Humanae Vitae. She is particularly interested in political theology and religious nationalism. At Oxford, she hopes to study the role of faith in theories of liberalism and the ethical questions raised by the influence of theology on public institutions. When not working, Rachel enjoys being outdoors hiking, cross-country skiing, or fly fishing. Rachel is a 2022 Barry Scholar.

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Nicolas Galvan is reading for the DPhil in Theology (Patristics) at Christ Church College. Before pursuing academics, he was a case manager for the chronically homeless in California, where he helped develop a multi-million dollar government-funded programme that eventually rehabilitated hundreds off the streets and into housing. This has reintegrated several back into society, stopped the cycle of homelessness for homeless families, and extended the lives of those considered critical. He then received a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies at Biola University, where he graduated summa cum laude and was elected to the Epsilon Kappa Epsilon Honour Society for distinguished scholastic achievements and Christian character. Afterward, he received an MPhil degree in Theology (Patristics) at Wycliffe Hall, where he received a distinction on his thesis which explored the connection between early Christian baptism and martyrdom. He argued for the martyr-image reshaping fourth-century baptism when the threat of government persecution and martyrdom had diminished. His current research follows the connection between Christian baptism and martyrdom found in the early Christian intellectual Origen of Alexandria. This focuses on the influence of Greek paideia on Origen and how it shaped his theology on the schema between baptism and martyrdom.

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Alberto Garzoni is reading for the DPhil in Theology (Patristics and Christian Ethics) at Keble College. He holds an MA in Philosophy (Hons) from the University of Padua and a Diploma in Moral Sciences (Hons) from the Galilean School of Higher Education. Part of the coursework towards those degrees was completed at Boston University. His current research focuses on the political theology of Augustine of Hippo, its connections with liturgy and its influence on contemporary debates in political theory. Other interests include Catholic social thought, virtue ethics, Gregorian chant, theatre, and the poetry of T. S. Eliot.

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Olivia Glunz is reading for the MPhil in Theology with a focus on Patristics at Magdalen College. Olivia graduated from Harvard studying History and Classics. Her thesis explores the transformative role of language in the mystical theology of Dionysius the Areopagite, John Scotus Eriugena, and Hugh of St Victor; she hopes to expand on this work during her graduate studies and in her future career as an intellectual historian. At Harvard, Olivia was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the John Harvard Scholarship. She also served as President of Harvard Right to Life, as Managing Editor of the Harvard Salient, and as a Student Fellow with the Harvard Catholic Forum. An avid violinist and singer, she has especially enjoyed performing with the St Paul’s Schola and in a student-run chamber ensemble. Her other interests include writing, cake decorating, and spending time with friends and family. Olivia is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Katherine Graddy is reading for the MSc in Economics for Development at Lincoln College. She is graduating from Magdalen College, Oxford, with a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), where she was recognised as an Academic Demy Scholar and awarded the Weldon-Burchardt prize for PPE. Her undergraduate research explores the political economy of randomised controlled trials in international development, examining the effect of political competition on site selection bias in Kenya. During her undergraduate, she spent her summers in Serbia and Kenya researching nonviolent protests, volunteering at a WASH centre for migrants, assisting HIV/AIDS programs, and contributing to behavioural science research on poverty alleviation. This summer, she will be working with the United Nations as an Economic Affairs intern in the Landlocked Developing Countries unit. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys hiking, frequenting local coffeeshops, and training with the university triathlon team. Katherine is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Molly Graybill is reading for the MPhil in Christian Ethics at Magdalen College. Molly graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a BA in both religious studies (with departmental honours) and psychology. Her honours thesis examines how the psychologist Henry A. Murray developed a new religion, called synthesism, to respond to the psychic and political tensions of the second world war. At Oxford, Molly will explore how theological teachings can inform healthcare systems’ ability to support the dignity of dying individuals. In her free time, Molly enjoys dancing, cafe hopping, and reading J.D. Salinger’s short stories. Molly is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Fr Jack Green is reading for the DPhil in Modern Theology at St Antony's. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2018, after which he served in a parish in Sydney for three years before coming to Oxford. Fr Jack is interested broadly in dogmatic theology, particularly ecclesiology. His thesis considers the question of the transparency of the Church from a dogmatic perspective. Fr Jack has undergraduate degrees in philosophy (honours) and theology, and graduated from the MPhil in Theology in 2023. Outside academia, he loves playing football, running, and a good cup of coffee.

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Isabella Griepp is reading for the MPhil in Theology (Ecclesiastical History) at St. Cross College. Her thesis focuses on evangelical women in the 18th and 19th centuries and their impact on society. At Stanford, she majored in Classics, specialising in Ancient History, and double minoring in Data Science and Modern Languages (Spanish and Russian). During her time at Stanford, Isabella served as a leader in Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, the Society for International Affairs at Stanford (SIAS), and Scholars of Finance. She also interned in the Office of Condoleezza Rice, where her research on school choice was used to create an interactive map for the Hoover Institution. During her time as a staff writer for the Stanford Review, she published articles on faith and campus life. A lifelong competitor, she was thrilled to race as a scholar All-American for Stanford’s alpine ski team. Isabella is a coffee aficionado, language lover, avid traveler, and she is deeply passionate about literature. Isabella is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Paul Guajardo is reading for the MSt in Global and Imperial History at Wolfson College. A Kennedy Scholar, he graduated with honours from Brigham Young University where he double majored in English and history. After serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Guadalajara, Mexico, he developed an interest in Spanish and Atlantic history, which became his focus as an undergraduate. At BYU, he was president of the Student Association for Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum and helped professors integrate bilingual components into their undergraduate syllabi. Paul’s honours thesis was a translation of poems by the Equatoguinean writer Zankús Mázé Menemádjimol, and at Oxford he hopes to continue exploring the cultural history of Equatorial Guinea. When he can get away from school, Paul enjoys creative writing, playing the piano, and trying new foods with his wife. Paul is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Helen Halliwell is reading for the MSt in English (1700-1830) at Mansfield College. She graduated with a BA in English from University of California, Berkeley, receiving the Departmental Citation. She is interested in thinking about attention to and within natural spaces in 18th/19th century British Poetry. Her undergraduate thesis focused on John Clare’s educative poetry of attention and the cultivation of community and belonging. After graduating, she worked as a Reader for the UC Berkeley English department, as well as an administrative assistant for the Berkeley Institute. At Oxford, she hopes to continue to explore concepts of perception and nature in 19th century England and its effects in the compositional processes of poetry. In her free time she enjoys singing, swimming, and exploring museums. Helen is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Isabelle Heinemann is an alumna of St Hilda's College and Researcher at the Pusey Centre for Theology, Law and Culture. She is currently pursuing a PhD in the History of European Civilisation at the EUI Florence. Her main research interests concern the genealogy of the twin ideas of universal empire and peace across the Renaissance Mediterranean as well as its interpretation as political theology in modern historiography, particularly in the work of Ernst Kantorowicz. She has previously worked on Byzantine history, the Vienna Congress, and Middle Eastern current affairs. She is a scholar of the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Foundation and former chair of the Oxford Interfaith Scriptural Reasoning Society.

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Katherine Helmick is reading for the DPhil in Medieval and Modern Languages. She completed the MSt in Comparative Literature and Critical Translation (Spanish and Zulu) at Keble College. She also holds a BA in Art with a Spanish minor and concentration in U.S. Politics from Hillsdale College. Her research focuses on language and literature in Africa, with particular attention to the implications of translingualism in multi-ethnic nations such as South Africa and Equatorial Guinea. An avid traveler, Katherine has taught with the JET program in Japan and served with the Peace Corps in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She writes on philosophical and social issues for The Critic and previously studied political philosophy as a resident fellow at the John Jay Institute. In 2014, she founded Salt and Iron: SeasonedWriting.com, an online magazine dedicated to excellence in Christian writing. She enjoys partner dancing and public speaking. Katherine is a 2023 Barry Scholar.

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Nathaniel Hodson is reading for the DPhil in Theology (Patristics and Christian Ethics), funded by the AHRC-OOC-DTP and as a Clarendon Scholar at University College. Originally from California, he holds a BA in Philosophy with High Distinction from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and awarded the Philosophy Departmental Citation. Before beginning doctoral study, he also graduated summa cum laude from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School with a Master of Divinity and read the MPhil in Theology (Christian Ethics) with Distinction at University College, Oxford. Nathaniel is interested in all aspects of moral theology, and his research incorporates the Christological concerns of Augustine’s political thought into conversations in contemporary political theology. When not working, Nathaniel enjoys surfing, classical music, and film.

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Felicity Klingele is reading for the BPhil in Philosophy at Pembroke College. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with degrees in Psychology and Philosophy (with departmental honours). During her undergraduate career, she founded the Madison Philosophical Society, a space to explore ethical, metaphysical, and epistemic questions; the St. Dymphna Society, a women’s mental health support group; and Siena Scholars, a women’s philosophy and theology group. She was a fellow for both the Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy and the Madison College Writing Center. Felicity’s passion for ethics led her to serve on the UW-Madison Police Advisory Board and the Diocesan Board for the Office of Human Life and Dignity. At Oxford, she plans to explore the relationship between the philosophy of education and virtue ethics, along with the interplay of artificial intelligence and human flourishing. She is currently serving as a live-in volunteer at Casa Juan Diego, a Catholic Worker House in Houston, TX. Outside of her academic pursuits, she enjoys hiking, reading, and ballroom dancing. Felicity is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Ryan Kulesa is reading for the DPhil in Philosophy at St. Cross College, specializing in moral philosophy. His current research focuses on questions concerning moral status: Whose interests matter, morally?  Why do they matter? To what extent do they matter? His other research interests include moral epistemology and conscientious objection in medicine.  He's published his work in leading specialist philosophy journals, including Utilitas, Religious Studies, and Bioethics. Ryan holds MAs in Philosophy from the University of Missouri, Columbia and the State University of New York at Buffalo.

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Julianna is reading for the MSt in Ancient Philosophy at New College. She has just graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Politics and minors in Classics and Journalism as a Calvin Coolidge presidential scholar. In her senior thesis, she explored the relationship between the virtue of courage in Plato’s Republic and the contemporary purpose void. At Princeton, she served as the president of the Anscombe Society, which aims to foster a culture of healthy family/relationship values and sexual ethics. She was also an inaugural named columnist for the Daily Princetonian, politics department undergraduate representative, board member of Princeton Pro-Life, and a Bible study leader for the Aquinas Institute, Princeton’s Catholic campus ministry. Julianna is a lover of the outdoors, going on long runs, and helping out on farms. Julianna is a 2025 Fortescue scholar.

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Nicole is reading for a DPhil in Oncology at University College under a Medical Research Council Industrial (MRC- iCASE) Fellowship, held in collaboration with Artios Pharma in Cambridge, England. She previously completed her Masters of Research (MRes) in Oncology at Harris Manchester College on a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. She holds a Bachelors of Science (HBSc), which she obtained in her hometown at the University of Toronto in Canada. Her current research focuses on how to improve the efficacy of radiotherapy through harnessing the immune system. When not in the lab, Nicole enjoys live theatre, running, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

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Andreas E. Masvie is reading for the DPhil in Theology at Christ Church, inquiring into civic friendship in political theology. He holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Oslo, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Theology from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration from the Norwegian School of Economics. Before returning to Oxford Andreas worked as a political journalist, essayist, and cultural critic in Oslo.

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Tom is reading for a DPhil in History at Wolfson College. He previously read for a BA in History at St Peter’s College and an MSt in Medieval History at St Hugh’s College. Tom is a medievalist working on English textual communities in the centuries following the Norman Conquest. His thesis is about the transmission and use of abbreviations and copies of the Domesday Book. He is interested in the kinds of things that all sorts of texts can tell us about the people who wrote them and what they thought, particularly when those texts are understood in their physical contexts. Tom was a Wolfson Postgraduate Scholar in the Humanities between 2020 and 2023, and is a Scouloudi Fellow at the IHR for 2023-24. He is also a Lecturer at Brasenose College.

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Duncan is reading for the MPhil in Philosophical Theology at Blackfriars Hall with a project combining reformed epistemology with the work of Thomas Reid. Prior to this, he read PPE at St Anne’s College, before working in economics consulting for five years. Duncan has also served as a Ministry Apprentice for two years at an Anglican church in the city of London.

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Katherine Metz is reading for the MSc in Energy Systems at Somerville College. Hailing from Carmel, Indiana, Katherine will graduate with honours from the United States Military Academy in May with a degree in Chemical Engineering. At West Point, Katherine was elected President of the Class of 2025 and serves as a battalion commander. A Stamps Scholar, her research in the lab focused on developing next generation, high-performance composite nano-electrodes for energy storage applications in the Army, culminating in a publication in the Surfaces and Interfaces journal. She furthered her interest in energy and policymaking as an intern at the Pentagon in the Army Office of Installations, Energy, and Environment. Her interests outside of academics include singing as a member of the West Point Glee Club, traveling and learning about other cultures, growing in her Catholic faith, and spending time with her family and friends. Katherine is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Emily Morris is a DPhil candidate in the Intelligent Earth CDT at the University of Oxford, where she is a Clarendon Scholar and a member of New College. Her research interests focus on applications of AI to climate change and environmental risk. Having previously completed a MPhil in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge and a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Cape Town, Emily is particularly interested in how fundamental AI research can be used to help societies adapt to a changing climate while ensuring technological interventions are beneficial and ethically sound.

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Fr Joseph Murphy is reading for a DPhil in Patristics at Oriel College. He is a Catholic priest from Brisbane with a passion for the Classics. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Ancient Greek, Latin) from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours I) from the University of Notre Dame (for which he analysed Aristotle’s Greek philosophical texts), a Bachelor of Theology, and an MPhil in Philosophical Theology read at St Peter's College, Oxford. In 2019 he was ordained a priest for the Sydney Archdiocese. He has worked as an Assistant Priest at All Saints Parish, Liverpool, as well as Chaplain for two schools and Volunteer Chaplain for Liverpool Hospital. His doctoral work studies ancient philosophical influences on Origen of Alexandria. Fr Joseph is a 2022 Ramsay scholar.

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Ashby Neterer is Tutor of Theology at Oriel College, Oxford, where he is writing his DPhil under Mark Edwards on the Greek Christian poem Christus Patiens. The dissertation explores how the text uses classical mythology to contrast Christian and Greek theology. His teaching areas include Greek Mythology, Church History, and Music Theory. In his free time, he publishes original poems and musical compositions with literary magazines like Bollman Bridge Review and Swamp Magazine. Originally from Virginia, he hopes to return home one day to teach Theology and Classics at a liberal arts college.

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Karolina Nixon is reading for the BPhil in Philosophy at Somerville College. She graduated from Columbia University with degrees in philosophy (with departmental honours) and economics, and is pursuing a career as an academic and public philosopher. Her research interests include Ancient Greek philosophy, epistemology, and ethics. Outside of her formal studies, Karolina is a competitive épée fencer. She fenced for the USA National Team and served as captain of the Columbia Fencing team. She plans to continue fencing while completing her BPhil as part of the Oxford University Fencing Club. In 2023, Karolina launched “Philosopher Fencer,” a social media venture aimed at bringing academic philosophy to general audiences through short-form videos. Aside from philosophy and fencing, her interests include writing, visual and performing arts, fashion, and modeling. Karolina is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Osamede Ogbomo is reading for the MPhil in Politics (Political Theory) at Keble College. She graduated from Princeton University, where her undergraduate thesis examined the biblical narrative of King David and explored how conceptions of the divine or transcendent can constrain—or fail to constrain—the ambitions of statesmen. At Oxford, she plans to build on this work, drawing on Aristotle’s concept of magnanimity to address contemporary political questions surrounding egalitarian ideals and the hierarchical implications of exceptional leadership. In her free time, she enjoys playing and teaching piano, debating politics and philosophy, and singing at her local church. Osamede is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

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Shane Patrick is reading for the MPhil in Islamic Studies and History at Wolfson College. He graduated from Princeton University, with a bachelor’s degree in Near Eastern Studies and certificates in Medieval Studies, Hellenic Studies, Latin, and Arabic. Shane is interested in Christian-Muslim relations during the Middle Ages and the development of Christian religious practices in Africa and the Middle East following the rise of Islam. His undergraduate thesis examined a Maronite Christian legal text, the Mukhtaṣar al-Sharīʿa of ʿAbdallāh Qarāʿalī, and its relationship with Islamic Law and with the legal traditions of other Christian confessions. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the banjo and taking long walks with his wife. Shane is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Ethan Phillips is reading for the DPhil in Primary Health Care at Jesus College on a Clarendon Scholarship. His research aims to design better ways to measure and incentivise value in the NHS, working with policy makers to test innovative healthcare payment models. As a 2023 Barry Scholar, he earned an MSc in Modelling for Global Health and an MSc in Comparative Social Policy, both at Reuben College. At Oxford, Ethan has also conducted machine learning research for healthcare optimisation at the Saïd Business School's Data-Driven Decisions Lab and enjoys rowing for his college. Ethan holds a BSc of Public Health in Health Policy and Management with minors in Public Policy and Chemistry (Pre-Medical Studies) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. Ethan and his wife Julia live with their two ducks in the village of Islip. 

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Clemente Recabarren is reading for the DPhil in Law at St John’s College. His academic interests lie in constitutional law, philosophy of law and legal history. His doctoral research focuses on theories of constitution-making and constitutional amendment. Prior to his doctoral studies, Clemente completed an MPhil in Law at Oxford. His MPhil thesis explored the relation between public international law and constitutional law, and offered a critical account of the role of states in the international sphere based on the concepts of sovereignty and subsidiarity. Before coming to Oxford, Clemente obtained his law degree (Hons) from Universidad Católica de Chile in 2016, where he was appointed Adjunct Professor in 2018. In conjunction with his academic activities, he also worked as legal advisor to the President of the Republic of Chile under the Ministry Secretary General of the Presidency, practiced law and interned for the Constitutional Court of Chile.

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Piero Rios Carrillo is reading for the DPhil in Law at St Peter's College. His doctoral research focuses on developing a comparativist account of legal reasoning that is both compatible with and enriched by the concept of virtue. Previously, he read for the MJur at St Cross College, and before coming to Oxford obtained his law degree from Universidad Católica San Pablo (Peru). Piero is deeply interested in the philosophy of law, as evidenced by his Bachelor's dissertation (published as a book by Palestra Editores, 2021), and his MJur dissertation (which will appear in the journal 'Legal Theory' by Cambridge University Press). Before coming to Oxford he worked as a qualified lawyer at a Peruvian law firm; and following his graduation from Oxford, he completed a year of internships in London focusing on international arbitration.

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Jacob Rosenzweig is reading for the MPhil in Greek and Latin Languages and Literature at Merton College, University of Oxford. He will graduate from Duke University with a BA in Classical Languages and Political Science. His senior thesis examined the contributions of Greco-Roman philosophy and political thought to the development of natural rights theories in Medieval Europe. Outside the classroom, he has held fellowships with the Hudson Institute and Hertog Foundation, and he has conducted historical research for the Bipartisan Policy Center. Jacob is interested in ancient conceptions of nature, justice, and citizenship, and he will attend Harvard Law School after completing his studies at Oxford. In his free time, he enjoys long walks, great coffee, and challenging books. Jacob is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

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Angelo Ryu is currently reading for the DPhil in Law at St John’s College. Previously he read the MPhil in Law, the BCL, and the BA in Jurisprudence, also at St John’s. His research interests are clustered primarily in public law and legal theory. His thesis is on the concept of jurisdiction in administrative law. He has also written on the doctrine of non-justiciability, the error of fact doctrine, legal anti-positivism, the rule of law, and the role of juries. Ongoing projects include a paper on the nature of mercy, the basis for negligence liability, the nature of blameworthiness, and the rights-based conception of administrative law. Outside of academia, he briefly worked at the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals as a judicial intern.

Middle Reader

Zoditu Schwind is reading for the MSc in African Studies at Corpus Christi College. She graduated from George Fox University with a major in Biochemistry and a minor in Creative Writing. Her senior thesis, influenced by her time working in hospice care, focuses on how dualistic and non-dualistic perceptions of human nature affect one’s understanding of death. At Oxford, she is interested in studying the history of healthcare in Madagascar, specifically looking at traditional healers and their influence on how Malagasy women understand reproductive health. Zoditu intends to apply for medical school after her time at Oxford and hopes to eventually work in East Africa as a physician. Zoditu is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Rina Sclove is reading for the MPhil in Jewish Studies at Exeter College. She is a senior at Duke University majoring in Political Science and English with a certificate in Jewish Studies. As an undergraduate, her research has focused on the intersection between political theory and Jewish thought. Her work in Oxford combine her interests in English and Jewish Studies by studying how the setting of the shtetl serves as a site for processing memory and trauma in post-World War II literature. At Duke, Rina served as the president of Duke’s Jewish Student Union. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing and crocheting. Rina is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Benjamin Sharkey is reading for the DPhil in History at Magdalen College as an Oxford Nizami-Ganjavi Scholar. He holds a BA in History from the University of Birmingham, and an MPhil in Late Antique and Byzantine Studies from the University of Oxford. His current research explores various aspects of the experience of Christian communities in medieval Central Asia. More broadly he is interested in the wider history of Central Asia, the Islamic world, and the Mongol empire; the history of Syriac, Asian and non-European Christianity; and in rethinking approaches to the study of historical religion and belief, particularly in medieval scholarship.

Middle Reader

William Smith is reading for an MPhil in Modern Theology at Linacre College. Originally from St. Charles, Minnesota, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in Theology. As an undergraduate, his research and involvement focused on the intersection of religion, politics, and aesthetics in the US and abroad. After graduation, he was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in the Slovak Republic. At Oxford, William is interested in exploring trends of secularisation and its effects on religious discourse and reception in the public sphere.

Middle Reader

Eric Sheng is reading for the DPhil, in Philosophy, at Merton College. He previously read for the BA, initially in History and then in History and Politics, at University College, Oxford, and the BPhil, in Philosophy, at Corpus Christi College. His academic interests include the history of ideas (especially of moral philosophy and of XVIIth- and XVIIIth-century European philosophy), social and moral philosophy, and metaphysics. He is a 2021 Ramsay Scholar.

Middle Reader

Matthew Stanco is reading for the MPhil in Economic and Social History at St. Peters College. He graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park summa cum laude with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). While at UMD, Matthew founded the PPE Society and a chapter of the Federalist Society. He also served as President of the Moot Court Team. Matthew has worked in both State and Federal Government, including as a law clerk for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the United States Senate. At Oxford, he will examine what leads to societal development, with a particular focus on how legal structures incentivise economic growth. In his free time, Matthew enjoys long-distance biking, waterskiing, and Shakespeare plays. Matthew is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Benedict Stanley is reading for the DPhil in Law at Queen’s College where he will also be the Anthony Honoré Scholar in Law. Benedict’s previous degree was a BA in Jurisprudence from St John’s College, where he was a Casberd Scholar, and obtained the White & Case Prize in Comparative Private Law. He plans to pursue a DPhil, which is to be a comparative and historical study of the development of doctrinal legal scholarship in England and Germany (with additional reference to the United States) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Benedict is particularly interested in questioning certain conceptual assumptions in how law is explained (taxonomies, national boundaries) and the implications of this for traditional “black letter” legal scholarship. In his spare time, Benedict occupies himself with analogue photography, computer programming, art galleries, and endeavouring to read as widely as possible. Benedict is a 2023 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Kerry Sun is reading for the DPhil in Law at Merton College, where his research focuses on tort law and interpersonal fairness in market relations. Previously, he read for the Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction) at Merton College and received his Juris Doctor (Distinction) from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Before coming to Oxford, he served as a law clerk at the Court of Appeal of Alberta and to Justice Sheilah L. Martin at the Supreme Court of Canada, and worked as a litigation associate in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. His academic interests include natural law theory, theory of private law, and methodologies of rights adjudication.

Middle Reader

Jonathan Tjandra is reading for the DPhil in Law at Balliol College. The thesis title is ‘Remedial discretion in judicial review and the rule of law’. Previously, Jonathan was the Legal Research Officer to the Hon Susan Kiefel AC, Chief Justice of Australia, and practised public and constitutional law as Counsel for the Australian Government Solicitor. His research interests are in constitutional law, specifically on judicial power and judicial review. Jonathan is a 2022 Ramsay Scholar.

Middle Reader

Joshua M. Topham is reading for the MPhil in Politics (Comparative Government) at University College. Originally from St George, Utah, Joshua spent two years in Sierra Leone as a religious and humanitarian volunteer before starting his undergraduate degree. He then studied American studies, history, and political science at Brigham Young University, where he graduated summa cum laude. Joshua published four research papers during his time at BYU and won a university-wide writing competition. He also served as editor-in-chief of BYU’s American studies journal, was elected American Studies Student of the Year by faculty and peers, and won BYU’s US Constitutional History Award. At Oxford, Joshua will continue studying constitutional law, theory, and history. After completing his MPhil, he will join Yale Law School. Joshua and his wife, Anna, enjoy traveling and all things outdoors. Joshua is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Matthew Tweden is reading for the MPhil in International Relations at Magdalen College. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in public policy and peace, war, and defence. As a Robertson Scholar, he also studied political science at Duke University. Matthew’s undergraduate thesis examined the development of presidential regulatory authorities and modeled approaches to regulatory governance across recent administrations. At Oxford, he will study the modern diplomatic history of the Melanesian islands, analyzing national security decision making in the context of growing great power competition. At UNC, Matthew served as Speaker of the Undergraduate Senate and was involved in multiple policy-related student organisations. He has previously worked at think tanks, nonprofit organisations, and in the private sector focusing on national security and financial regulation. Matthew is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Peter Varga is reading for the DPhil in Experimental Psychology at Christ Church. Before coming up to Oxford, he received his MSc in Psychological Sciences from William & Mary. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa as the President’s Award recipient and a University Scholar from the Catholic University of America with a BA in Psychology and minors in Neuroscience, Philosophy, and Theology & Religious Studies, earning additional honours in Classical Philosophy, Theology, and Humanities. Drawing on his background as a classically trained guitarist and liturgical organist, his DPhil thesis investigates how emotion and higher states (e.g., inspiration) are communicated by composers to listeners via music, as well as the implications of this process for cultural transmission and evolution. Championing an interdisciplinary approach to the pursuit of knowledge, his past research has examined the role of aesthetics in science, experiences of higher goods (e.g., unity, truth, goodness, beauty) as indicators of self-transcendent well-being, the function of inspiration and imagination in the creative process, the social and emotional underpinnings of the ‘chills’ response to film and music, the effect of social stress on prospective memory, and differences between terrestrial and lunar psychophysics using virtual reality. Outside of academia, Peter serves as the Development Officer for the Christ Church Music Trust. In his free time, he enjoys singing with the Christ Church and Hertford college choirs and fencing with the University Club. Peter is a 2022 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Ginger Vidal is reading for the MSt in English Literature at St Hilda’s College. She completed her undergraduate coursework at both Deep Springs College and Barnard College, where she received her BA in English. Her two senior theses on Dickens and Shakespeare explored fictional geographies and the poetics of space. Alongside her studies she worked as a carbon storage researcher and a mule packer. After graduating she spent a year practicing regenerative agriculture at a conservation cattle ranch and bison preserve in Colorado. At Oxford, she will continue to explore how literary landscapes are imagined and the ways they structure and mediate our understanding of 19th century novels. In her free time she enjoys biking, painting, and playing foosball. Ginger is a 2024 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Consuelo Viveros is reading for the MPhil in Law at Oriel College. Her academic interests lie in the philosophy of law and legal history. Prior to her studies at Oxford, Consuelo obtained her law degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and her Master’s in Philosophy from Universidad de los Andes. In 2021, she was appointed Adjunct Professor of Legal History at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

Middle Reader

Matthew Wilson is reading for the MPhil in Politics (Political Theory) at Wadham College. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University in 2024 with an A.B. in Politics and certificates in Medieval Studies and Hellenic Studies. His academic interests include public reason, political morality, and the public justifiability of political arguments. At Princeton, he was awarded the Stephen Whelan ’68 Senior Thesis Prize for Excellence in Constitutional Law and Political Thought for his thesis on liberal theories of public justification. He currently works as deputy editor of Public Discourse and as research assistant to a professor at Princeton. After completing the MPhil, he hopes to pursue a doctorate in politics. Matthew is a 2025 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Daniel Woolnough is reading for the DPhil at Oriel College, specialising in the Philosophy of Religion. His current research focuses on the problem of evil broadly, with a specific emphasis on theodicy—an enterprise that investigates the reasons God may have for permitting evil. Daniel holds an MSt in Philosophical Theology from Mansfield College and has broad interests in Analytic Philosophy, including Bayesianism, Modal Metaphysics, Axiology, and Formal Logic.

Middle Reader

Victoria Xiao is reading for the MPhil in Theology (New Testament) at St Cross College. Her undergraduate degree comes from Dartmouth College, where she majored in Philosophy. Her research connects philosophy, theology, and political economy. As a student researcher, she worked extensively with Dartmouth professors on Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, and Thomas Aquinas. In particular, she has written about the theological implications of De Trinitate as a phenomenological text, particularly concerning the Filioque. She has also analysed Western cultural and political issues from an onto-theological standpoint, juxtaposing Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Maritain’s views of existence and their respective moral implications. Moreover, supported by two different Dartmouth grants, Victoria researched twentieth-century Russian and East European literature and twentieth-century Chinese intellectual history. At Oxford, Victoria hopes to explore the personal, immanent, and transformative dimensions of metaphysics through the study of Scripture and its patristic reception. In her free time, Victoria enjoys playing the piano and a Chinese instrument called Guqin. Victoria is a 2022 Barry Scholar.

Middle Reader

Joseph Zishang Yue (岳子尚) is currently reading for a DPhil in Science and Religion in which he explores a neo-Aristotelian perspective on the Everettian interpretation of quantum mechanics. He is the 2024 recipient of the Graduate Scholarship in Science and Religion at Oriel College. Born and raised in Zhengzhou (鄭州), China, he came to the University of Edinburgh to read for MChem Chemistry during which he specialised in theoretical and computational physical chemistry, and graduated First Class with Honours in 2021. Seeking eventually to switch to philosophy, he then read for a MSc Science and Religion, also at Edinburgh, and graduated with Distinction in 2022. Apart from his main research interests in metaphysics and philosophy of physics, he also imbibes an overabundance of classical Confucian texts, as well as their significant Song/Ming interpretations by, e.g., Wang Fuzhi (王夫之) and Matteo Ricci, which aspect he wishes to bring into his future research. In his free time, he enjoys literature, poetry, classical music, satorial styles, rowing, cooking, singing Gregorian chant, and casually bantering in Latin. 

Junior Reader

Monica is reading for the BA BM BCh in Medicine at Jesus College. She has a particular interest in bacteriophage therapy, especially its potential applications in the management of chronic conditions associated with dysbiosis. In the sixth form, she undertook a small independent project at the University of Liverpool investigating the effects in vitro of a selection of novel phages on clinical isolates of ileal Escherichia coli from Crohn's disease patients. Outside of her medical studies, she is a choral scholar at Pembroke College, President of Oxford Students for Life and Vice President of the Newman Society. She is passionate about medical ethics and enjoys learning about the work of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Junior Reader

Thomas is in the fourth year of a BA in Literae Humaniores. He is currently writing a thesis on characterization in Cicero's invective (especially in the speech against Verres) and the mixture of original and stereotyped features which this involves. He has recently enjoyed attending reading groups on Thucydides and Greek lyric with his college tutors at Balliol, as well as attending lectures on Oscan and Umbrian, Virgil's Eclogues and Greek textual criticism. He intends to study Latin textual criticism and to write about the influence of Demosthenes on Cicero, and hopes to combine skills from history, epigraphy, linguistics and textual criticism. He also hopes to encourage positive dialogue between classical scholars in different countries. He is a keen runner and tennis-player and enjoys captaining his sides in football.

Junior Reader

Rose Webster is reading for a BA in Theology and Religion at Regent's Park College and for a BSc in Mathematics at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her research interests are broadly in the area of systematic theology and patristics, with a goal of synthesising contemporary, and patristic, and medieval exegesis. The focus of her current research project is the doctrine of the indwelling of the Holy Trinity in the writings of Maximus the Confessor. Her research interests in mathematics include nonlinear dynamical systems and philosophy of mathematics.

Office Manager & Senior Reader

Dr Madalena Brito read her PhD in Classical Studies in the University of Lisbon, Portugal. She researches 16th century unedited Latin manuscripts on slavery and the natural rights of persons, and is currently investigating the Iberian School of Peace and Natural Law (of the Second Scholasticism in Portugal and Spain). She is interested in the intellectual history of natural rights, slavery and natural law. As Office Manager, Dr Brito manages the Canterbury Institute’s premises in St Aldate’s, Oxford, including organising study space for students.

Director

Dr Dominic Burbidge is the Founding Director of the Canterbury Institute. A graduate of the University of Oxford, he has held numerous teaching, research and administrative positions across the University. He was formerly a Postdoctoral Researcher in Princeton University and is now a permanent Lecturer in Politics for Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford. Dr Burbidge is also a Research Associate of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI, and a Senior Research Associate of the Department of Politics & International Relations. Dr Burbidge is the single author of two books and over ten peer-reviewed articles, with a focus on the nature of democracy, social trust and interpersonal unity. His current research applies virtue ethics to political theory.

Programme Manager

Ashley Crowley recently graduated from the University of Oxford with a Bachelor’s degree in Theology. She wrote her dissertation on the importance of beauty and the role that the built environment plays in spaces of worship. Prior to her studies, Ashley worked full time in production, managing her photography and videography company where she specialised in editorial print and women’s fashion. As Programme Manager, Ashley organises the events hosted by the Institute alongside supporting the Barry Scholars nomination process and annual donor presentations.

Finance Manager

Aaron Mansfield began working life repairing electronic circuits for Allen & Heath, the famous mixing console manufacturer used by Pink Floyd and The Who. He later studied Theology at Heythrop College, University of London, and as a Flatley Fellow in Theological Ethics at Boston College, before gaining his DPhil from the University of Oxford as an AHRC-funded scholar. He is interested in the intellectual history of moral theology. He previously worked in an academic library, and in a student welfare role with American students in Oxford. As Finance Manager, Aaron oversees the Canterbury Institute’s budgets, human resources, and scholarship disbursements.