Professor Philip Howell

Philip is an Official Fellow and also a Tutor, one of our Admissions Tutors in the Arts, and a Director of Studies in Geography.

Biography

He has been at Emmanuel for nearly all his academic life, reading Geography as an undergraduate in 1984, followed by a year at Harvard as a postgraduate. He was then hired as an assistant lecturer in the University of Cambridge's Department of Geography in 1989, at which point he joined Downing College, returning to Emmanuel in 2000. Philip comes from a mixed background, with supportive British and Chinese Malaysian parents, though with no tradition of university education. Coming to Emmanuel was a privilege, and as one of the Admissions Tutors he is proud to introduce new students to Emmanuel. He has also served the College as a Director of Studies, as a Tutor, and for one year as Acting Senior Tutor.

Teaching

Philip teaches Geography at undergraduate and postgraduate level, on topics in cultural and historical geography, and including a range of topics in human geography. This extends to what is called 'Anthropocene Studies', and recent PhD students have worked on animals such as bees, whales and urban coyotes.

Research

Over his career, Philip has not been faithful to a particular research topic: his PhD was on the geography of the Chartist movement, but he also likes a side hustle, developing an early interest in literary geography. His most important research has been on the historical geography of sexual regulation, and the development of pet keeping in Victorian Britain. That research interest has lasted, and he has published in animal history and animal studies. His general research interests lie in historical and cultural geography, and he also writes about popular culture and literature. His historical work has been on dogs in Victorian Britain, but he has also written about pigeons, cats, foxes and horses in contemporary settings. 

His current research is broadly in the field of animal geography, which looks at the relations between humans and other animals, but keeping a roving brief, there is a short book on pubs on the way. His books include At Home and Astray: The Domestic Dog in Victorian Britain (University of Virginia Press, 2015) and his upcoming book Pub (Routledge US, 2025).