معرفی
Professor Peter Garratt serves as Head of Department and Chair of the Board of Studies in the Department of English Studies at Durham University. His academic career bridges Victorian literature, cognitive science, and philosophy, with sustained focus on mind, consciousness, and cultural history in nineteenth-century contexts.
Garratt's research encompasses Victorian fiction, history of literary criticism, and nineteenth-century philosophy and psychology. He pioneers cognitive approaches to literature, examining distributed cognition in cultural practices and intersections between literary aesthetics and mental pathology. His work establishes foundational frameworks for understanding how cognitive processes manifest in Victorian texts and modernist continuities.
Analysis of his recent publications reveals consistent engagement with cognitive literary studies, exploring respiratory aesthetics, extended mind theory, and voice-hearing phenomena. His scholarship demonstrates how Victorian writers engaged with scientific thought, creating a robust methodology for cognitive humanities that connects historical literary practices with contemporary theoretical frameworks.
Scientific Awards:
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Professor Garratt has supervised six PhD students to completion, including Francesca Adams and Peiran Peng. His research has secured significant funding:
- AHRC standard grant (£600,000) as Co-Investigator (2014)
- British Academy small research grant (£6,980) as Principal Investigator (2013)
- AHRC collaborative skills development grant (£1,726) as supervisor (2013)
- AHRC networking grant (£45,000) as Principal Investigator (2012-14)
He remains actively engaged with Durham's Institute for Medical Humanities through ongoing collaboration stemming from his participation in the Wellcome Trust-funded 'Hearing the Voice' project, which investigated auditory hallucinations in literary and medical contexts.
