About
Samuel Woodall
I am an intellectual historian, lecturer, writer and podcaster working on political thought, religion and the problem of faction in eighteenth-century Britain.
My work
I am a PhD candidate in Intellectual History at the University of Buckingham’s Humanities Research Institute. My research asks how writers in eighteenth-century England understood political and religious division after the Glorious Revolution, and how they attempted to reconcile disagreement with the demands of political order.
The thesis follows contrasting responses to the “rage of party”. It examines Paul de Rapin de Thoyras’s account of party as a durable feature of England’s constitutional history; John Brown’s call for national unanimity, moral renewal and educational reform; and Josiah Tucker’s engagement with commerce, political economy and the interests holding society together. Together, these case studies recover a varied debate about faction, loyal opposition, religion and national cohesion.
Academic journey
University of Buckingham
I began my PhD in 2023 at the Humanities Research Institute, where I work under the supervision of Dr Thomas Jones. My doctoral work grows from a longstanding interest in the relationship between religious authority, political conflict and the historical languages through which societies interpret division.
University of St Andrews
I completed an MLitt in Intellectual History in 2023. My dissertation examined Robert Bellarmine’s arguments concerning temporal and spiritual authority through the Venetian Interdict and the English Oath of Allegiance, with attention to earlier disputes surrounding Ambrose, Theodosius, Gregory VII and Henry IV.
University of Exeter
I graduated with a BA (Hons) in History and Politics in 2022. My undergraduate work ranged across political theory, intellectual history and the history of science, culminating in a dissertation reconsidering social-contract accounts of citizenship after the pandemic.
Teaching
Since 2023, I have worked as a visiting lecturer and seminar leader at the University of Buckingham. I have taught modules on eighteenth-century Britain, science and religion in the Enlightenment, and nineteenth-century political thought.
My teaching places primary texts at the centre of discussion and encourages students to reconstruct arguments in their historical settings. It draws particularly upon contextual approaches associated with Quentin Skinner and J. G. A. Pocock.
Academic service
I serve as the graduate-student representative on the University of Buckingham Faculty Research Committee. At St Andrews, I was Postgraduate Development Officer within the Students’ Association and Postgraduate Society Committee, representing and supporting the postgraduate community.
I have also organised reading groups and public events designed to connect academic research with wider intellectual life.
Public history and Beyond the Text
Alongside my academic research, I co-host Beyond the Text with Jack Thomson. The podcast and associated reading club open major works of political thought and intellectual history to wider audiences through long-form conversations, interviews and public discussion.
Our conversations have ranged from Plato, Augustine and Rousseau to Burke, Paine, Mill, existentialism and Hayek. Guests have included Anthony Pagden, Ritchie Robertson, Denis Lacorne and Jesse Norman. I have also contributed to public-history initiatives including Academy to Arena and have presented my research at academic conferences.
Research interests
- Early modern and eighteenth-century political thought
- Party, faction and loyal opposition
- Religion, toleration and political authority
- Huguenot intellectual history
- The Enlightenment in Britain and Europe
- Historiography and historical method
- The history of science and religion
- Public intellectual history
Contact and collaboration
I welcome enquiries concerning teaching, research collaboration, conferences, public talks, podcast appearances, historical commentary and commissioned writing.