Colin Jones

Professor Colin Jones is a prominent historian specializing in French history, particularly between the seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries, and the history of medicine. He has held academic roles at universities including Newcastle, Exeter, Warwick, Stanford, Paris, and Queen Mary's, and served as President of the Royal Historical Society. His research explores intersections between medicine, culture, and politics, with notable works on Revolutionary France, Parisian urban history, and the history of medical practices.

Professor Jones has held visiting fellowships at Princeton University, the Collège de France, and Columbia University's Reid Hall. He contributed to policy roles as Convenor of the History Panel for the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2006-2008) and Vice-Chair of the Wellcome Trust's History of Medicine Panel. His current research includes studies on physiognomy, the history of smiling, and the representation of terror during the French Revolution.

His publications span general histories of France and Paris, co-edited volumes on Foucault's legacy and early modern medical systems, and biographical explorations of cultural figures like Madame de Pompadour. Jones' work emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, blending cultural, social, and political history to contextualize France's transformation from the Ancien Régime to modernity.