A new professorship in the history of sexualities has been established in the Faculty of History, in association with Mansfield College.
The Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexualities will lead and expand the study and teaching of LGBTQ+ history at Oxford and become the first fully endowed specialist post of this type in the UK. It has been made possible by a £4.9 million gift from Professor Peter Baldwin and Dr Lisbet Rausing, who are historians and co-founders of the Arcadia Fund.
The professorship has been named in honour of Jonathan Cooper OBE, a barrister with expertise in international human rights law and the role of public law in upholding them, who died suddenly in September 2021. Mr Cooper was an inspiring advocate and activist for LGBTQ+ rights across the globe and a commentator on issues such as trans rights, conversion therapy and the rights of people living with HIV.
Helen Mountfield QC, Principal of Mansfield College, said: ‘I am delighted that the new Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexualities will be based at Mansfield College, and it is my firm aim that this will be the start of an exciting research cluster exploring the histories and contributions of LGBTQ+ people. As a lawyer and a friend of Jonathan Cooper, I am proud that his enduring contribution to the history of LGBTQ + emancipation will be recognised and celebrated by the post named in his memory.’
Professor Rob Iliffe, History Faculty Board Chair, said: ‘LGBTQ+ history is a sophisticated and vibrant strand of the discipline of history; in a short space of time it has made a major contribution to the way we think about the past, transforming our knowledge of diverse sexualities and genders in many periods and in many regions across the world. The inauguration of the Jonathan Cooper Chair will help us address the great demand for high-level teaching in the subject at Oxford, and it will make the faculty a leading institution in the field. We are grateful to the donors for their generosity and vision in making this position possible.’
Over the last 50 years, the rise of histories of diverse sexualities and genders has been one of the most significant transformations in the discipline of history. LGBTQ+ history has a strong and growing presence in Oxford’s curriculum at all levels, and there is a large appetite to study it from graduate and undergraduate students. The Jonathan Cooper Chair will steer the direction of this strand of research and teaching.
Mansfield College is now acting to secure the remaining funding required to establish a research cluster around the professorship, which will push research boundaries, spark debate and nurture new scholars in this burgeoning area. This aims to ensure that the professorship is supported by a career development fellow, and that new fully funded graduate scholarships exist at Oxford in the field of LGBTQ+ history.
It is fitting that the professorship will be in association with Mansfield College because of its commitment to inclusion and diversity. Mansfield currently has the highest intake of UK undergraduates from the state sector, and one of the most diverse communities of all the Oxford colleges in terms of the social, educational and ethnic backgrounds of its students.
The first Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexualities is expected to take up their post in 2023. The post will be open to applications from scholars in any area of LGBTQ+ histories.