A reading club convened in the heart of the City of London to explore various themes within the history of political thought and of the related humanities disciplines. 

Led by passionate and accomplished postgraduates in the humanities, we strive to catalyse enriching and informative dialogues around each set text. 

Each text is situated in the broader context of the history of ideas, helping us to better understand the significance of their content for today. 

The seminars are hosted at 51 Gower Street, which is the London base for the University of Buckingham. 

We may on occassion convene at the prestigious National Liberal Club in Whitehall (1 Whitehall Pl, London SW1A 2HE), nearby Embankment Station. Participants will be notified in advance if this is to occur, in which case a Smart shoes and smart-casual dress code will apply.

Due to the practicalities of the National Liberal Club, we advise arriving between 5.45-6pm for a sharp start, after which point admission cannot be guaranteed.

Online participants can join from 6pm until 7.30pm. They will have the opportunity to contribute questions via the messaging option and these will be read out at the end for further discussion. The link to join is below:

Microsoft Teams

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 324 394 797 895

Passcode: zs933NS7

You can check out our upcoming meetings and the preparatory reading on the 'events' page. 

Meetings are Thursdays fortnightly. 

Sam is completing his PHD in Intellectual History at the University of Buckingham, where he also teaches classes in Enlightenment history. He is researching religious toleration during the English Enlightenment.

He is the creator of the remarkable TheIntellectualIHistorian podcast, which you can find on Spotify. There you can find interviews with academics and politicians on a variety of historical themes. 

You can also follow his work on Wordpress and Instagram, where he will often post introductions to various Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment thinkers, from Kant through Sartre to Althusser. 

Jack has recently completed his Masters in Philosophy by Research at the University of Buckingham. He has specialised in modern philosophy after Kant and is particularly interested in phenomenology. 

He currently coordinates the Thomas More Foundation, a developing collaboration of educators and academics working to provide better intellectual and character formation for Sixth-Form students and educators. 

Jack also coordinates a phenomenology reading group with Fr Hugh Mackenzie (Diocese of Westminster), a recent speaker at which was Professor Jacob Phillips (St Mary's University Twickenham).