Think of the Victorian era and you automatically associate it with an age of prudery and sexual propriety - of concealing table legs to avoid the obscenity of revealing a bare limb. But academics in the University of Leicester's Victorian Studies Centre have looked beyond this veneer of respectability to uncover a secret, very different world of pornography, sensualism and homoerotic desire.

Drawing colleagues from disciplines across the arts and social sciences, the Victorian Studies Centre has built a distinguished record of innovation in inter-disciplinary research and postgraduate teaching. Now the work of academic Dr Holly Furneaux, whose research examines gender representations particularly in the works of Charles Dickens, has enhanced this reputation still further.

Exploring the subject of masculine tenderness and covert, homoerotic desire in the nineteenth century, Dr Furneaux has established how Dickens created ‘families of choice’ through the betrothal of a male character to his best friend’s physically similar sister.

This ‘hidden’ side of Victorian society contrasts markedly with the Centre’s approach to teaching, its library collection and its students. Here, as Dr Furneaux enthusiastically points out, there’s an "incredible selection of Victorian periodicals" that, "far from being shut away from our students in archives are available for all on the open shelves." It’s this mix of leading research, inspirational teaching and an inclusive academic culture that is a hallmark of the University of Leicester.

• Victorian Studies Centre

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