Dr Charlotte-Rose Millar

PhD (The University of Melbourne), BA (Hons) (The University of Melbourne)

Dr Charlotte-Rose Millar is a UQ Fellow (2016-2019) in the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Queensland and an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions (1100-1800). Her PhD entitled ‘The Devil is in the Pamphlets: Witchcraft and Emotion in Seventeenth-Century England’ was completed at the University of Melbourne under the supervision of Prof. Charles Zika and was jointly funded by an Australian Postgraduate Award and a Research and Travel scholarship from the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions (1100-1800). Her book, Witchcraft, the Devil and Emotions in Early Modern England, is a significantly expanded and revised version of her PhD and was published by Routledge in 2017. Charlotte-Rose has published numerous articles and book chapters on witchcraft, diabolism, emotions and sexual practices and has won two prizes for her published work. Her 2015 article on sexual relations between witches and devils has been labelled as the definitive piece on the issue.

Charlotte-Rose is currently working on a new project on post-Reformation ghost stories in early modern England. This project focuses on how the continuation of ghost stories in post-Reformation England can nuance our understanding of conversion narratives; both in a religious sense but also through an examination of the changing emotional character of these experiences. By examining one’s emotional reaction to a ghost, some medieval authors claimed it was possible to decipher the ghost’s origin: angelic, demonic or departed soul. Despite the early modern emphasis on ghost as angelic or demonic, many men and women still had an emotional reaction to what they believed was the soul of a departed loved one. A key part of this project will be exploring how women were represented within ghostly narratives – both as ghosts themselves, and also as witnesses to supernatural phenomena. The project engages with both personal and collective hauntings and contributes to religious history and history of emotions research – both key areas within the Institute.

A list of Charlotte-Rose Millar's engagement activities can be found here.