Dr Melissa Calaresu
- College positions:
Neil McKendrick Lecturer in HistoryDirector of Studies in HistoryDirector of Studies in History and Modern LanguagesPostgraduate Tutor
- University positions:
Affiliated Lecturer in the Faculty of HistoryCo-Convenor of the Early Modern Worlds Workshop and SeminarCo-Convenor the Eighteenth Century Seminar
- Subjects: History History and Modern Languages History and Politics
Degrees
BA (Hons.) in History (Huron College, University of Western Ontario, Canada), M.A. in History (Queen’s University, Canada), PhD in History (Cantab), Commonwealth Scholar, 1990-1994
Research interests
Early modern cultural history of Europe, with a special emphasis on Naples and southern Italy, and the Grand Tour. Urban and food history.
Publications include
- Exploring Cultural History: Essays in Honour of Peter Burke (2010)
- New Approaches to Naples c.1500–c.1800: The Power of Place (2013)
- Catalogue for the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition, Treasured Possessions from the Renaissance to Enlightenment (2015)
- Food Hawkers: Selling in the Streets from Antiquity to the Present Day (2016)
- Catalogue for the Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition, Feast & Fast: The art of food in Europe, 1450-1800 (2019)
Recent public engagement
- ‘The many sides of the pineapple’, in ‘Eating the past’, History Workshop Online, 20 February 2023: https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/food/the-many-sides-of-the-pineapple/
- Ice cream: A cool history, The Forum, BBC World Service, 19 June 2022, available as a podcast.
- Darwin College Series lecture on Food and cultural history, Darwin College, Cambridge, 25 February 2022, available online.
- ‘We are what we eat’, interview for Thoughtlines Podcast series, CRASSH, 21 January 2021.
Teaching interests
Early modern and modern European history (1500-1850), history of collecting, history of material culture, and history of food.