Matt Phillips

Matt Phillips is a Stipendiary Lecturer in French at the University of Oxford, affiliated with Christ Church, Trinity College, and other Oxford colleges. He completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2017, followed by postdoctoral research in Paris and Geneva. His research explores modern French literature and the intersections of literature with medical humanities, focusing on empathy, mental health, and affective theories. He is currently finalizing his book Empathy’s Mess (Liverpool University Press) and working on Depressive Texts, supported by a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (2019–2021). Phillips has held academic roles at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Université Paris Diderot.

His teaching spans undergraduate French literature, critical theory, and translation across Oxford colleges. He contributes to The Year’s Work in Modern Language Studies and has edited volumes such as Parasites: Exploitation and Interference in French Thought and Culture. Phillips’ work addresses how French literature engages with empathy, mental distress, and well-being, challenging conventional therapeutic narratives in favor of critical analysis. His research themes include contemporary critical theory, trauma narratives, and psychoanalytic approaches to literature.

Phillips has received the Paragraph Essay Prize (runner-up, 2016) and grants from the University of Cambridge and Leverhulme Trust. His scholarship bridges literary analysis with interdisciplinary concerns, reflecting his commitment to exploring literature’s role in understanding human experiences of emotion and conflict.