Chris Philo

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Chris Philo is Professor of Geography at the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, the University of Glasgow.

Philo graduated from the Sidney Sussex College of Cambridge University and became a Research Fellow there. In 1989 he joined the Department of Geography at the University of Wales, Lampeter, holding that post for six years, until 1995. He then joined the University of Glasgow as a Professor, becoming head of the department in 2002. In 2006 Chris was replaced as Head of Department by Professor Trevor Hoey and as a reward for his contribution as head Chris was enlisted on the Geography and Environmental Studies RAE Sub-Panel.

Traditionally his interests have been in the historical geographies of 'madness' and mental health and mental health care provision. Later, he dabbled in the emerging, and increasingly significant, sub-discipline of animal geographies. A devotee of the work of Michel Foucault, his research extended and localised Foucault's history of madness to England and Wales. Over a decade in the writing his major work, in a typically Philo-esque moment, was published by a minor press in Wales as A Geographical History of Institutional Provison for the Insane from Medieval Times to the 1860s in England and Wales: The Space Reserved for Insanity. Always a generous collaborator, he has co-edited numerous general anthologies of human geography. Most recently, he has examined, with Eric Laurier, cafe culture in Glasgow. He currently offers two option courses for honours students in the department: 'Social Geography of Outsiders' and 'Historical Geographies of Social Policy'. Both these courses are heavily underpinned by the work of David Sibley, another key influence on Philo's career.

Rumours of Philo's unusual sexuality (his academic interests include the 'geographies of masturbation') were quashed in 2007 with the birth of his first son.

[edit] Partial bibliography

Philo, C. 2004. A Geographical History of Institutional Provison for the Insane from Medieval Times to the 1860s in England and Wales: The Space Reserved for Insanity. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston and Queenston, USA, and Lampeter, Wales, UK (712 pages)
Cloke, P., Cook, I., Crang, P., Goodwin, M., Painter, J., Philo, C. 2004. Practising Human Geography. Sage, London (416 pages)
Philo, C. 2004. 'Michel Foucault'. In Hubbard, P., Kitchin, R. and Valentine, G. (eds) Key Thinkers on Space and Place. Sage, London, 121-128
Laurier, E, Philo, C. 2004. 'Ethnoarchaeology and undefined investigations'. Environment and Planning A, v.36, 421-436
Philo, C. & Wilbert, C. 2000. Animal Spaces, Beastly Places, New Geographies of Human-Animal Relations, Routledge, London
Philo C, 1995, "Animals, geography, and the city: notes on inclusions and exclusions" Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 13(6) 655 – 681
Philo C, 1992, "Foucault's geography" Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 10(2) 137 – 161