BA PhD (Liverpool), FEA

Professor of Romantic Studies

Contact Details:

• E: ps14@le.ac.uk

• T: +44 (0)116 252 2632

Research Interests

Philip Shaw’s main research interests are in Romantic poetry and prose, particularly Wordsworth and Byron, and in Romantic representations of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. 

He is the author of an inter-disciplinary study, entitled Waterloo and the Romantic Imagination (Houndmills: Palgrave, 2002), which examines the representation of the battle of Waterloo in nineteenth-century poetry, painting, and political prose. He is the editor of a collection of essays, entitled Romantic Wars: Studies in Culture and Conflict, 1793-1822 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000). An art historical book, entitled Suffering and Sentiment in Romantic Military Art, 1783-1856 is scheduled for publication by Ashgate in 2012.

His most recent publication is Literature and Authenticity: Essays in Honour of Vincent Newey, ed. with Ashley Chantler and Michael Davies (Ashgate, 2011).

Professor Shaw maintains additional research interests in the fields of literary theory and in contemporary popular music. His most recent publications in these fields include The Sublime (London & New York: Routledge, 2006) and a study of Patti Smith’s debut album, Horses for the Continuum Press series 33 1/3 (2008).

Philip Shaw has recently completed an art historical project with the Tate gallery, entitled The Sublime Object. This three-year AHRC funded major research project encompasses philosophy, literature, music, film, theology and science, and the complex interactions between these different spheres. Drawing together a wide range of individuals under the umbrella of Tate's Collection, the aim of this project is to debate and collaborate on a series of interrelated events and research activities focused on the role of the sublime in our perceptions of the natural world. 

Professor Shaw’s practical interests in popular music are reflected in his contributions to the band Alberteen.

Projects

• Sentiment and Suffering in Romantic Military Art 
• The Sublime Object

Current Postgraduate Supervision

As a dissertation supervisor for the MA in English Literary Research, Professor Shaw invites applications from prospective students, especially those with an interest in Romantic topics.

In addition to MA dissertations, Professor Shaw has supervised doctoral theses on a range of literary and critical topics, including ‘State of the Nation Fiction of the 1980s’; ‘Derrida and Mysticism’; ‘Post-theory’, ‘Blake's Aesthetics’ and, most recently, ‘Classical Persian Literature and Romanticism’.

Professor Shaw welcomes applications to conduct research on any of the following:

• British Romantic Poetry and Prose
• Wordsworth and Byron
• Romanticism and War
• Art and Aesthetics
• Literature and Psychoanalysis
• Popular Music

Teaching and Administration

• EN3147 Romanticism
• Director of Postgraduate Study
• Chair of the School Graduate Committee

Professor Shaw is Reviews Editor of The Byron Journal and in 2008 he was elected a Fellow of the English Association. He is also a member of the AHRC Peer Review College and is on the editorial board of Literature Compass. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the British Association for Romantic Studies.

Recent Publications

Full list of publications