The project will run for six years from 1 June 2017 to 31 August 2023. It will take the basic form of five invitation-only workshops or ‘colloquia’:

• ancient empires;
• medieval empires;
• early modern empires;
• modern empires (with a British focus); and
• post-colonialist critiques of empire.

Each colloquium will run for two days, and involve a series of 90-minute sessions. In each 90- minute session a colleague will present a 45-minute paper expounding and analysing a tradition’s views of empire (e.g., the New Testament’s) or a classic critique of empire (e.g., Augustine’s). To this another colleague will then offer a 10-minute critical response, with a view to stimulating subsequent discussion. One focal question in every session will be, “How well did empire’s critics or supporters actually understand the historical phenomenon?”

Ethics and Empire I: The Ancient Period

The first colloquium, “Ethics and Empire I: The Ancient Period”, took place on 6-7 July 2017 and comprised five sessions.

• Ancient Israel and the Assyrian Empire:
  • Carly Crouch, Associate Professor in Hebrew Bible, University of Nottingham
    • Respondent: Nicholas Postgate, Senior Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge
• Classical Roman republicanism and early Roman empire:
  • Malcolm Schofield, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge
    • Respondent: Dr Hannah Cornwell, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, Institute of Classical Studies, University of London
• NT/early Christian Church and Roman empire:
  • Peter Oakes, Greenwood Senior Lecturer in the New Testament, University of Manchester
    • Respondent: Dr Martin Goodman, Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Oxford
• Augustine and late Roman empire:
  • Charles Mathewes, Carolyn M. Barbour Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
    • Respondent: Dr Gillian Clark, Emeritus Professor Classics & Ancient History, University of Bristol
• Classical Chinese appraisals of empire:
  • Aaron Stalnaker, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Indiana University
    • Respondent: Professor Dirk Meyer, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford

Ethics and Empire II: (Mostly) The Medieval Period

The second colloquium, “Ethics and Empire II: (Mostly) The Medieval Period”, took place on 20-21 June 2019 and comprised six main sessions.

• Thucydides and the Athenian Empire
  • Speaker: Roger Brock, Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Leeds
    • Respondent: Paul Cartledge, A. G. Leventis Professor Emeritus of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge
• The Byzantine Empire
  • Speaker: James Howard-Johnston, former University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies, University of Oxford
    • Respondent: Jonathan Shepherd, former University Lecturer in Russian History, University of Cambridge
• The Holy Roman Empire
  • Speaker: Len Scales, Professor of Late Medieval History, University of Durham
    • Respondent: Stuart Airlie, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Glasgow
• Towards a Theory of Empire
  • Speaker: Robert Jackson, Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, formerly Member of the European Parliament, member of the UK Parliament for Wantage, and Special Adviser to the Governor of Rhodesia
• Arab and Turkish Empires
  • Speaker: Carole Hillenbrand, Professor of Islamic History, University of St Andrews, and Emerita Professor of Islamic History, University of Edinburgh
    • Respondent: Christian Sahner, Associate Professor of Islamic History, University of Oxford
• Mongol Empire
  • Speaker: Peter Jackson, Professor of Medieval History, Keele University
    • Respondent: David Morgan, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ethics and Empire III: The Early Modern Period

The third colloquium, “Ethics and Empire III: The Early Modern Period”, took place on 1-2 September 2021 and comprised seven sessions.

• Resumé of Ethics & Empire I and II
  • Speaker: Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford
• The Akbari Conception of Empire
  • Speaker: Douglas Streusand, Professor of International Relations, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Quantico, VA,
    • Respondent: J. J. L. Gommans, Professor at the Institute for History, University of Leiden
• Hugo Grotius and Dutch Empire
  • Speaker: Martine Van Ittersum, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Dundee
    • Respondent: Tristan Mostert, PhD candidate, University of Leiden
• Towards a Theory of Empire
  • Robert Jackson, Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and former Special Adviser to the Governor of Rhodesia
• Edmund Burke and the British Empire in India
  • Speaker: Uday Mehta, Distinguished Professor in Political Science at Central University of New York
    • Respondent: Zareer Masani, author of Indian Tales of the Raj (1987) and Macaulay: Britain’s Liberal Imperialist (2012)
• The Ottoman Empire
  • Speaker: Douglas Howard, Professor Emeritus of History, Calvin University
    • Respondent: Dimitri Kastritsis, Senior Lecturer in History, University of St Andrews
• Spanish Empire and its Critics
  • Speaker: Anthony Pagden, Professor of Political Science and History at University of California Los Angeles
    • Respondent: Sir John Elliott, Regius Professor Emeritus of Modern History, University of Oxford

Ethics and Empire IV: The Modern Period

The fourth colloquium, “Ethics and Empire IV: The Modern Period”, took place on 30 June-1 July 2022 and comprised eleven sessions.

• Resumé of Ethics & Empire I-III
  • Speaker: Nigel Biggar, CBE, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford
• The Russian Empire: from Tsarist to Soviet
  • Speaker: Alexander Morrison, Fellow and Tutor in History, New College, University of Oxford
    • Respondent: Simon Dixon, Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College London
• The Habsburg Empire
  • Speaker: Martyn Rady, former Masaryk Professor of Central European History at the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, University College London
    • Respondent: Robert Evans, Regius Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Oxford
• The German Colonial Empire
  • Speaker: Bruce Gilley, Professor of Political Science, Portland State University
    • Respondent: Rigmar Osterkamp, former Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Namibia
• Iran: from Empire to Nation
  • Speaker: Ali Ansari, Professor in Modern History (Middle East), St Andrews University
    • Respondent: Roham Alvandi, Associate Professor of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science
• Theories of Empire III: Empire by God’s Will
  • Speaker: Robert Jackson, Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and former Special Adviser to the Governor of Rhodesia
    • Respondent: Robin Lovin, Cary M. Maguire University Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Southern Methodist University
• The British Empire: outside the Raj
  • Speaker: Brad Faught, Professor of History and Global Studies, Tyndale University, Toronto
    • Respondent: Niall Ferguson, Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University
• The British Empire: the Raj
  • Speaker: Zareer Masani, former BBC Current Affairs producer and author of Indian Tales of the Raj (1987)
    • Respondent: David Gilmour, former Research Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford
• The Chinese Empire: from Qing to Communist
  • Speaker: Peter Perdue, Professor of History at Yale University
    • Respondent: Gagandeep S. Sood, Associate Professor of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science
• The United States as an Empire
  • Speaker: Heather Wilford, Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Yale University
• The European Union as an Empire
  • Speaker: Jan Zielonka, former Professor of European Politics, University of Oxford
    • Respondent: Robert Jackson

Ethics and Empire V: Making Moral Judgements

The fifth and final colloquium, “Ethics and Empire V: Making Moral Judgements”, took place on 16-17 June 2023 and comprised seven sessions.

• Ethics and Empire I-IV: Interim Report
  • Speaker: Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, University of Oxford
• Empire and Ethics: Beyond the Wilsonian Moment?
  • Speaker: Peter Fibiger Bang, Associate Professor of History, University of Copenhagen
    • Respondent: Robin Lovin, Professor Emeritus of Christian Ethics, Southern Methodist University
• Ethics and Empire
  • Speaker: Charles Mathewes, Carolyn M. Barbour Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
    • Respondent: Krishan Kumar, William R. Kenan, Jr, Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia
• The Imperial History Wars
  • Speaker: Stephen Howe, Professor in the History and Cultures of Colonialism, University of Bristol
    • Respondent: Eric Gregory, Professor of Religion, former Chair of the Council of the Humanities, Princeton University
• The Geopolitical ‘Weaponisation’ of Anti-colonialism
  • Speaker: Gwyn Prins, former Research Professor and Director of the Mackinder Programme at the LSE
    • Respondent: Alexander Morrison, Fellow and Tutor in History, New College, Oxford 
• The Meta-Ethics of Empire
  • Speaker: Robert Jackson, Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
    • Respondent: Charles Mathewes, Carolyn M. Barbour Professor of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
• Nigel Biggar’s Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning
  • Speakers:
    • Krishan Kumar, William R. Kenan, Jr, Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia
    • Zareer Masani, DPhil in Modern History (Oxford)
    • Alexander Morrison, New College, Fellow and Tutor in History, New College, Oxford
  • Respondent: Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology, University of Oxford

Core Group

A core group of researchers will attend each workshop:

• Professor Ali Ansari, St Andrews University (History)
• Professor Nigel Biggar, University of Oxford (Ethics)
• Professor Eric Gregory, Princeton University (Ethics)
• Robert Jackson, Quondam Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
• Professor Krishan Kumar, University of Virginia (Sociology)   
• Professor Robin Lovin, University Professor Emeritus of Ethics, Southern Methodist University, Dallas (Ethics)
• Dr Zareer Masani, biographer of Indira Gandhi and Thomas Macaulay 
• Professor Charles Mathewes, University of Virginia (Ethics)
• Dr Alexander Morrison, University of Oxford (History)

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