Seth Koven

Seth Koven is the G.E. Lessing Distinguished Professor of History and Poetics at Rutgers University since 2017. He holds a Ph.D. in History from Harvard University and has been affiliated with Rutgers since 2006. His research spans gender, social, economic, and cultural history of Europe (1750–present), with a focus on modern Britain, its empire, women's history, and the history of sexuality.

His work explores intersections of ethics, altruism, and social welfare, exemplified in Slumming: Social and Sexual Politics in Victorian London (2004, 2006) and The Match Girl and the Heiress (2014, 2016), which won the Stansky Prize and NAVSA Best Book awards. His current projects, including Conscience Wars, examine the history of humanitarianism, anti-humanitarianism, and conscientious objection in the British Empire.

Recent publications analyze race, religion, and vaccination resistance in Natal, conscience and Christianity in 19th-century India, and passive resistance movements across the British Empire. He co-directed the Mellon-funded "Ethical Subjects" research project (2015-17) and directs the Rutgers British Studies Center, supporting interdisciplinary scholarship and graduate initiatives.

• Scientific Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship (2021), Stansky Prize (2015), Sonya Rudikoff Prize (2004), Veritas Award (2004).
• Supervision: Supervises Ph.D. students (18th–20th centuries) and collaborates with scholars like Judith Surkis and Thomas Laqueur.
• Grants: Multiple NEH Fellowships, Spencer Fellow, Whiting Fellow, and Mellon Foundation funding.