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Dr Rei Kanemura

Lecturer in Early-Modern British History

Rei Kanemura was educated in Japan and the US, before taking two Master's degrees in Manchester and Cambridge. She completed her PhD in Cambridge in 2012, and her thesis, titled "The Idea of Sovereignty in English Historical Writing, 1599-1627", examined the uses of history in English political discourse with a focus on the Elizabethan succession question and the debate over Anglo-Scottish union of 1604.

Email address: r.kanemura@qub.ac.uk

Research Interests

Rei's primary interest lies in the political and intellectual history of early modern England, especially in the development of theories of kingship and royalism in the early Stuart period. She also maintains a broad range of research interests: Renaissance humanist political thought; theory and practice of humanist education; Roman history plays; English chronicles; the Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries; and the exchange of legal and historical manuscripts in the early seventeenth century.

Publications

‘Kingship by Descent or Kingship by Election? The Contested Title of James VI and I’, Journal of British Studies, 52:2 (forthcoming, April 2013).

‘Historical Perspectives on the Anglo-Scottish Union Debate, 1604-1613’, History of European Ideas (forthcoming, 2013).

Teaching

Dr Rei Kanemura has joined Queen's to cover Professor Chris Marsh's teaching while he is on research leave. She teaches on the following modules:

HIS1002: Exploring History 2

HIS3018: Popular Culture in Early Modern England