A Historic First: Inaugural Lecture of the Jonathan Cooper Chair of the History of Sexualities

The evening began with a formal academic procession led by the University Bedel of Law, Gary Jones, followed by the Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor Richard Hobbs; Professor Matt Cook; the Junior Procter, Dr Grant Tapsell; Mansfield’s Principal Helen Mountfield KC; and Professor Martin Conway, Chair of the History Faculty, as they entered a packed auditorium.

Professor Matt Cook, a leading figure in queer history, gave his lecture titled Entangled Tales: Making Queer History since the 1960s. The evening continued with a drinks reception on Mansfield’s Crypt Terrace, followed by a celebratory formal dinner in the Chapel Hall.

We are deeply grateful for the generous support of Arcadia, the philanthropic initiative of Dr Lisbet Rausing and Professor Peter Baldwin of the Arcadia Fund, in making this post possible – a transformative gift that has a lasting legacy for LGBTQ+ history at Oxford and beyond.

You can watch the full recorded lecture on our YouTube channel here.

• The academic procession makes its way through the Mansfield College quad ahead of the lecture.

• Members of the academic procession doff their caps to Professor Matt Cook at the start of the lecture.

• Audience during the lecture.

• Professor Matt Cook delivering the inaugural lecture.

• Members of the procession group photo.

• Guests gathered for a formal candlelit dinner in Mansfield’s Chapel Hall to mark the occasion.

About the Jonathan Cooper Chair of History of Sexualities

The Jonathan Cooper Chair is the UK’s first permanently endowed Professorship in LGBTQ+ History, based at Mansfield College in association with the Faculty of History.

The Chair has been named in honour of the late Jonathan Cooper OBE, an inspiring human rights lawyer, tireless advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, and commentator on issues such as trans rights, conversion therapy and the rights of people living with HIV, who passed away in 2021.

This Professorship is the first fully-endowed specialist post of this type in the UK, made possible by a £4.9 million gift to Mansfield College from Arcadia.

About Professor Matt Cook

Professor Cook leads the study and teaching of LGBTQ+ history at Oxford University, after 18 years at Birkbeck College where he led the Gender and Sexuality Studies MA programme, and directed the Raphael Samuel History Centre. He is a social and cultural historian with a strong interest in cross-disciplinary work and queer urban, public and community history. In 2017, Professor Cook co-authored the National Trust’s first LGBTQ guidebook, Prejudice and Pride, and he has advised on a range of other museum and heritage projects. He has written extensively on queer urban life, the AIDS crisis and queer domesticity, and his most recent book, Queer Beyond London (2022), arose out of a collaborative project anchored in LGBTQ+ community and local history, focusing on Brighton, Leeds, Manchester, and Plymouth.