Rory Cox

Dr Rory Cox is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Impact in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. He specializes in the ethics of war, history of violence, and intellectual history, with a focus on ancient Egyptian just war doctrine, medieval military history, and debates on torture and terrorism. He holds leadership roles as co-editor of Global Intellectual History and Associate Director of the St Andrews Institute for Intellectual History.

Education: B.A. (First Class) in Ancient History from University College London (2004), M.Sc. in Medieval Studies (Distinction, UCL, 2005), D.Phil. in History from the University of Oxford (2010). Fellowships include the Wallenberg Research Fellowship (2016) and Caltech-Huntington Humanities Collaboration Fellowship (2017-18).

Research Interests:

• Interdisciplinary approaches to ethics of war and violence
• Comparative military ethics across ancient and medieval civilizations
• Historical and contemporary debates on torture and terrorism

Publications highlight themes of just war origins, pre-modern military ethics, and security studies. Awards include the 2024 Distinguished Book Award for Military History and Royal Historical Society fellowship.

Advises PhD students Ryan Barnett and Gwenffrewi Morgan. Engages in international collaborations, such as the International Studies Association's Ethics Section. Active in public lectures and media engagements on historical topics.

Labs/Teams: Affiliated with the Institute of Medieval Studies and Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research at St Andrews.