Peter Rawlings

Peter Rawlings was Professor of English and American Literature and formerly Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education University of the West of England. Born and raised in Hull, Rawlings left school at fifteen without any qualifications. He worked as a clerk and then as a stock controller, studying for 'A' levels by distance learning. He embarked on an Open University course, gaining a first class honours degree in Humanities, while simultaneously completing a degree in English Language and Literature at the University of Hull, for which he also gained a first. His doctorate was at Cambridge University where his specialism was Henry James and the Discourse of Organicism. He later completed an MA in Education Management at the Open University. He has held teaching posts at North East Surrey College of Technology, Kyushu University in Japan where he was Associate Professor of English, before joining UWE in 2000. His teaching specialisms are American literature, nineteenth-century fiction and Shakespeare.