Professor Anthony King
Biography
Current Post: Professor in Sociology
Anthony King read Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University, where he specialised in Social Anthropology and was supervised by Keith Hart. He graduated in 1989, and then studied an MA in Political Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor between 1989 and 1991. In the course of this MA, he sustained his interest in anthropology, working on a Native Canadian Reserve in British Columbia. On returning to Britain, he began an ESRC-funded PhD (‘The Premier League and the New Consumption of Football’) at Salford University under Ian Taylor in 1992. He completed his dissertation in 1995 and was appointed as a lecturer in the Sociology Department at Liverpool University. In 1997, he moved to Exeter and is currently Head of the Department.
His main areas of research are football, social theory and latterly, the military. He has published widely including his two most recent books, The European Ritual and The Structure of Social Theory (see research page for details and downloadable papers).
He has contributed to the delivery of the undergraduate and postgraduate programme and is currently the Head of the Department of Sociology & Philosophy. He offers research supervision on a variety of subjects relating to his research areas.
Anthony King is a keen sportsman. He has climbed since he was a teenager, rowed for the Cambridge University lightweights against Oxford in 1988, and skied for the University of Michigan cross-country ski club in 1990-91. In his spare time, he currently fell-runs, rock-climbs, surfs and skis. The featured photograph of him was taken on a third failed attempt to traverse the Cuillin Ridge in May 2007. He competed in last year's Original Mountain Marathon (the old KIMM) in October Dartmoor, coming second in the A Class, and is currently attempt to run a sub-three hour marathon.
