Professor Duncan Kelly

Jesus College
  • Deputy Head of Department
  • Professor of Politics
  • University Teaching Officer
Available to supervise doctoral students
Professor Duncan Kelly

Contact

Location

About

I began my academic career in the Politics Department at the University of Sheffield before moving to Cambridge in 2007 to teach political theory. I have been with POLIS ever since, earning a promotion to Professor in October 2018. After serving as Professor of Political Thought and Intellectual History until mid-2025, I was elected Professor of Politics in July 2025.

Research

Ongoing research and writing is focused on three main themes. (1) the relationship between artistic modernism and modern politics, especially around the First World War (2) the global political and economic thought of the period 1848-1914; and (3) various connections between wartime, politics, and environmental history, in the Anthropocene.

Teaching and supervision

Available to supervise doctoral students

Undergraduate Teaching 2025-2026

  • POL1 - The Modern State and its Alternatives
  • POL11 - Political Philosophy and the History of Political Thought since c. 1890
  • HP3 - Theory and Practice in History and Politics

Postgraduate Teaching 2025-2026

  • Methods Seminar for new POLIS PhD students
  • Supervision on the MPhil in POLIS and the MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History

Post-graduate supervision interests

I am keen to supervise projects in line with my research interests. For a list of recent and current PhD students I have been principal supervisor for, see my CV.