Timothy Jenks

Associate Professor and Chair
Ph.D., University of Toronto

Office: Brewster A-315

Phone: 252-328-2643

Timothy Jenks is a historian of eighteenth-century Britain, who specializes in the study of political culture and national identity. He is the author of Naval Engagements: Patriotism, Cultural Politics, and the Royal Navy, 1793-1815 (Oxford University Press, 2006), which examines the place occupied by images of the navy in British political culture. Prior to coming to East Carolina in 2002, he taught at the University of Toronto, York University, and the University of California at Berkeley. He is currently working on a study of illumination festivity in Georgian Britain, and a biography of the radical reformer, Major John Cartwright.

Professor Jenks believes in the liberal arts, casual dress, and that life is too short to read books twice (or to see movies of books already read). He is a member of the North American Conference on British Studies, the American Automobile Association, and Sam’s Club.

Selected Publications:

“Performing majesty and national identity: the case of eighteenth-century illuminations, c.1780-1810”. Studies in Eighteenth-Century Culture, Volume 53, (2023): 303-408.

Naval Engagements: Patriotism, Cultural Politics, and the Royal Navy, 1793-1815. (Oxford University Press, 2006).

“The 1832 Reform Act and the place of illuminations in late-Hanoverian political culture.” The English Historical Review, 37, no.589(2022): 1633-61.

“Spatial identities, online strategies, and the teaching of Britain’s ‘long eighteenth century’.” The History Teacher, Vol. 51, No. 4 (August 2018): 597-610.

“Language and Politics at the Westminster Election of 1796.” The Historical Journal, 44 (June 2001): 419-439.

“Contesting the Hero: The Funeral of Admiral Lord Nelson.” Journal of British Studies, 39 (October 2000): 422-453.

Courses Offered:

HIST 1031: World Civilizations from 1500
HIST 3350: War and Society
HIST 3480: Britain to 1688
HIST 3482: Britain, 1688-1832
HIST 3484: Britain from 1832
HIST 5440: Twentieth Century Britain