Religion, Institutions & Identities
My research explores the histories of religion, institutions and identities, from Renaissance and early modern Rome to the modern and contemporary world.
Papacy, politics &
institutions
I study conclaves, cardinals, the Roman Curia, papal government and the political cultures through which papal authority was made and contested.
Electing the Pope in Early Modern Italy →Priests, masculinity &
sexuality
This work examines clerical cultures, bodies, masculinity, sexuality and the historical conditions in which clericalism and abuse became possible.
Priests and their wigs in 18th-century Rome →Catholic histories &
medievalisms
I am interested in how Catholic histories are constructed, appropriated and reinterpreted, including through relics, saints, material culture and medievalism.
A pope in early modern Spanish Historiography →Queer cultures &
identities
I explore queer Catholicism, gender and sexuality, LGBTQ+ identities and activism, and the ways historical narratives become resources for contemporary identity.
The cult of gay relics in 1980s Sydney →Current projects
White Smoke: A History of the Papacy Through Conclaves
A history of the papacy told through its elections.
A Queer History of the Present
With Michael D. Barbezat; under contract.
Queer Time in Catholic Cambridge:
Gender, sexuality and the past in a 20th-century university.
The Contemporary Papacy and its Past
History, memory and Catholic traditions.