Victoria Mills

Victoria Mills is a Senior Lecturer in Victorian Literature and Culture at Birkbeck, University of London, within the School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication. She serves as Co-Director of the Birkbeck Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies and Programme Director for the MA in Victorian Studies. Previously, she held a Research Fellowship at Darwin College, Cambridge and a Teaching Fellowship in Nineteenth-Century Literature at King's College, London, following a career in the museum sector at institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Museum of the Home.

Her educational background includes:

• PhD, University of London
• MA Victorian Studies, University of London
• MA Museum Studies, University of Leicester
• BA (Joint Hons.) Ancient and Modern History, University of Oxford

Dr. Mills' research spans the intersection of literature, visual and material cultures, with particular focus on museums, collecting practices, the history of the book, gender and sexuality (especially Victorian masculinities), nineteenth-century classical reception, and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Her work often examines how material objects function within literary texts and how literature engages with visual culture. She has published extensively on nineteenth-century writers including George Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Charles Kingsley, exploring themes of collecting, gender, and visual representation.

Her recent publications reveal a consistent focus on material culture approaches to Victorian literature, with increasing attention to gender studies and museum practices. The trajectory of her work shows movement from analyzing specific literary texts to broader cultural studies of collecting practices, museum spaces, and the material conditions of reading and writing in the nineteenth century. Her research demonstrates interdisciplinary engagement with art history, museum studies, gender theory, and book history.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• British Academy Small Research Grant (2024-2026) for 'Art, Labour and Devotion: Uncovering the Victorian Art-Workman'
• Co-curator of 'Victorian Sentimentality' at Tate Britain (2011)
• Researcher for 'The Fallen Woman' exhibition at the Foundling Museum (2015)

Dr. Mills actively supervises doctoral research and teaches across the BA in English literature and MA in Victorian Studies. Her supervision focuses on nineteenth-century literature and culture related to her research interests, with current doctoral work examining topics like 'Fashioning Victorian Femininity in UK Museums.' She has received research funding including a British Academy Small Grant (2024-2026) for her project on the Victorian art-workman and has co-organized international workshops including 'Mediating History's Materiality' and 'Books in and out of time.' Her grant activity demonstrates strong external funding success and international collaboration.

She is actively involved with research centers including the Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies and the Centre for Museum Cultures, and serves on the steering committees of these institutes. Her professional engagement extends to committee membership with the British Association for Victorian Studies and fellowship in the Higher Education Academy.