Anthony (Tony) Harris is a Fellow and Tutor at Clare Hall (Cambridge). He returned to education in 2007 after exiting from his IT business and subsequently read English Language and Literature at Oxford as a mature student. It was there where he became interested in medieval and renaissance literature and the application of the sciences to improve our understanding of early texts.
His MA (Res) in Medieval Studies at the University of Reading focused on the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf and his PhD at Cambridge considered time, the medieval calendar, and the calculation of the date of Easter (computus). His PhD analysed and described computus in a way designed to be understandable by scholars of the humanities without a background in mathematics and focuses heavily on making medieval mathematics, and medieval astronomy, intelligible.
At Clare Hall he is conducting research on various topics including computus, and enhancing his publication record. He has presented several conference papers on a variety of topics including the digital humanities and he was closely involved in the digitisation of portions of the Hart manuscript collection at the Blackburn Museum. Tony is also particularly interested in Victorian Literature, Critical Theory, and Renaissance Drama and has taught and lectured widely on this latter subject at both Oxford and in public education.
He has taught medieval literature (Chaucer) at ICE and, as an entrepreneur himself, continues ad hoc mentoring and lecturing for Deep Tech Labs and on the ‘Accelerate’ entrepreneurial programme at the Judge Business School. He is actively involved in the Cambridge investment eco-space and is on the board of Cambridge Angels, and a member of the Cambridge Capital Group of business angels. A non-executive director of two Cambridge start-ups, Immaterial Labs Ltd. (novel chemistry) and Flit Bikes (electric folding bikes) he also invests in, and mentors, several other Cambridge early-stage companies.
Having been a mature student himself, and on the receiving end of life-long-learning, Tony favours an interactive and collaborative approach to teaching which aims to make the learning process worthwhile, satisfying, and enjoyable. He is keen to share his infectious enthusiasm for, and love of learning with, other mature students.