British Academy awards funding to 27 talented academics to research heritage, dignity and violence

The British Academy has awarded over £7.5 million to outstanding academics in the humanities and the social sciences working to generate evidence on the challenges and opportunities faced in developing countries.

The 27 UK-based academics, in collaboration with other UK and overseas researchers, will undertake research projects of up to 27 months in duration that advance and deepen our understanding of the relevance and importance of the historical context of development, cultures and heritages in addressing sustainable development.

Awards are worth up to £300,000 and fund projects which demonstrate innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, build our understanding of human and cultural contexts, and expand the research base in countries and populations with high unmet need and low research capacity.  

The awards are part of the Sustainable Development Programme, which has already funded 16 awards under its first phase which launched in 2016. It is supported by the UK Government’s £1.5bn Global Challenges Research Fund, which aims to respond to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Some of the award-holders include:

• Professor Vikki Bell, Goldsmiths, University of London – Documentality and Display: Archiving and Curating the Violent Past in Contemporary South America
• Professor Caroline Dyer, University of Leeds – Sustainable Development for Pastoralist Women in India: Heritage, Dignity and Adaptations in Times of Rapid Change (HERDING)
• Dr Fatima el Issawi, University of Essex – Media and Transitions to Democracy: Journalistic Practices in Communicating Conflicts: The Arab Spring
• Dr Palash Kamruzzaman, University of South Wales – Exploring the Experience of Violence and Loss of Dignity Among Rohingyas in Bangladesh and Internally Displaced People in Afghanistan
• Dr Daniel Lee, University of Sheffield – Traces of Jewish Memory in Contemporary Tunisia
• Dr Sara Parker, Liverpool John Moores University – Dignity Without Danger: Collaboratively Analysing Stigma and Taboos to Develop Innovative Strategies to Address Menstrual Exclusion in Nepal
• Dr Charlotta Salmi, Queen Mary, University of London – Visualizing Gender-Based Violence in Graphic Awareness Campaigns in Nepal
• Dr Yafa Shanneik, University of Birmingham – Negotiating Relationships and Redefining Traditions: Syrian and Iraqi Women Refugees in Jordan.

Professor Ash Amin, Foreign Secretary, British Academy said:

“We are delighted to announce these new award-holders. Their cutting-edge research will demonstrate the crucial role played by the humanities and social sciences in enhancing our understanding of development.

“Moreover, their collaborations with partners in the Global South will ensure that findings with real-world impact evolve in a truly inclusive, collegiate way.”

Read the full list of award-holders.