Angus Gowland

Angus Gowland is Professor of Intellectual History in the Department of History at University College London. Since arriving at UCL in 2003 he has advanced from Lecturer to Reader and, in 2022, to full Professor, shaping the university’s taught and research programmes in early-modern European thought.

Education

• BA (Hons) History, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge (1993–1996)
• MPhil Political Thought and Intellectual History, King’s College, University of Cambridge (1997–1998)
• PhD, King’s College, University of Cambridge (awarded 2001)
• Certificate in Learning and Teaching in HE Part 1, UCL

Research Interests

Professor Gowland’s work sits at the intersection of early-modern intellectual history, the history of medicine and psychology, moral philosophy, theology and political thought. His flagship project traces evolving medical and psychological theories of melancholy and dreaming from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, scrutinising their moral, political and cultural stakes. This has produced a major monograph, a Penguin Classics scholarly edition of Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy, and numerous articles that together remap the intellectual landscape of early-modern Europe.

Publication Trajectory

Across more than twenty publications since 2006, Gowland has moved from foundational studies of Renaissance melancholy—establishing the conceptual frameworks and textual genealogies—to increasingly synthetic analyses of mind, body, passion and politics. Recent essays explore Shakespearean melancholy, the rights of the insane, and the epistemic practices underpinning Burton’s encyclopedic project, showing a scholar continuously enlarging the cultural and philosophical contexts of his subject.

Scientific Awards

• Philip Leverhulme Prize in Early Modern History (2010)

Teaching & Programmes

At UCL he convenes and teaches core and optional courses for both MA and BA cohorts:

• Method and Practice in the History of Political Thought (MA)
• Political Thought in Renaissance Europe (MA)
• The History of Political Thought (BA lectures & seminars)

Affiliations & Contact

Department of History, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. ORCID: 0000-0002-7373-0448.