Leif Hammer
DPhil Student - Magdalen College
Research Topic: Reconstructing eighteenth-century scholarly mentalities: a comparative study of the University of Oxford and the University of Copenhagen
Supervisors: Professor Avi Lifschitz & Professor Laurence Brockliss
About my work
I am a historian of eighteenth-century cultural history, and my focus is on the British Isles and Scandinavia. My doctoral thesis showcases my bifocal interest, as it is a comparative study of the universities of Oxford and Copenhagen in the eighteenth century.
My doctoral work on scholarly culture at the universities of Oxford and Copenhagen, c. 1713–1815, compares and discusses how and what eighteenth-century scholarly identities were performed, constructed, and perceived. I have been gratiously funded by the Aker Scholarship Foundation.
Aside from university history, I am interested in various aspects of the Enlightenment, eighteenth-century satires, spatial and emotional history, among other things. I also enjoy teaching on Scandinavian history.
As of June 2025, I am a Department Head in the Museums for Coastal Heritage and Reconstruction of Finnmark, in Norway.
Activities
Throughout my DPhil at Oxford I have been active and presented at a range of conferences and convened seminars.
In August 2024, I had the pleasure of attending a History of Knowledge Doctoral Summer School at Lund University (worth 5 ECTS).
I co-founded and convened the Oxford Scandinavian Studies Network,, an interdisciplinary forum open to anyone working on or interested in Scandinavia. Our goal was to strengthen interest in Scandinavia as a region and to promote exciting new scholarship.
I am a member of the Eighteenth-Century Research Forum (Copenhagen University), courtesy of Professor Ulrik Langen.
Publications
Forthcoming peer-reviewed article in Hume Studies (November, 2026).
Review of “Mikkel Munthe Jensen, Patriotism and Reform in Nordic Universities during the Long Eighteenth Century. (Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2023), pp. 416.”, History of Universities XXXVIII, no. 2 (2026).
Book Review of “ÖSTLING Kunskapens stora hus: Huvudlinjer i universitetets historia”, English Historical Review (2025)
“Knebukser, «Doctorhabit» og David Hume: en reise på 1700-tallet via København”, Historikeren 1 (2025), 6-10 [magazine article]
Conference & seminar papers
“Nocturnal Activities: Contesting University Discipline in Eighteenth Century Oxford and Copenhagen” (Discipline and Punish: The Early Modern University Court in Theory and Practice, University of Limerick, Ireland, 14-15 January 2026)
“The Body in the University: Scholars Suffering in Eighteenth-Century England and Denmark” (BSECS 54th Annual Conference, Oxford, January 2025)
"Academic Culture in a Town Square" (GRACEH 2024 – The 18th Annual Graduate Conference in European History, Florence, Italy, 15 April 2024)
"Fearful and Armed? Eighteenth-Century Student Culture in Denmark" (Magdalen College Convivium, Oxford, 2 February 2024)
"The King of Denmark-Norway at Oxford University: from Institutional Self-Fashioning to the Perceptions of Scholarly Outsiders" (BSECS 53rd Annual Conference, Oxford, 3-5 January 2024)
"'Terror' and 'Devotion': Emotional Experiences at the University of Copenhagen, 1770-1773" (History of Education Society, Annual Conference, Sheffield, 17-19 November 2023)
'"Decline" and the Cultural History of the Eighteenth-century University' (Graduate Seminar in History, 1680-1850, Lincoln College, Oxford, 24 January 2023)
Prizes & Funding
- BSECS 2025 Postgraduate Bursary
- Thorleif Dahls legat for historiske studier (University of Oslo)
- Robson-Scott Travelling Scholarship (School of Advanced Study, University of London)
Other research interests:
- Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754)
- early modern Scandinavia, esp. Denmark-Norway
- early modern British Isles, esp. England
- Enlightenment culture, networks, and literature
- early modern learned people and networks
- history of universities
- history of knowledge
- cultural history, esp. mentalités
- history of emotions
Previous degrees:
- MLitt in Early Modern History (Distinction), University of St Andrews
BA in History, NTNU the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Personal website: https://leifhammer.com/
