British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences

News of Fellows 2009 A-D

A | B | C | D

Arber

Professor Sarah Arber

• Professor Sara Arber appeared on BBCR4's Today programme discussing the implications of lack of sleep on long-term health and social well-being. (Today, 29 January 2009, 7.22am)

Amin

• Professor Ash Amin is co-editor of Thinking About Almost Everything (University of Durham)¸ which was launched at a seminar at the British Academy on 19 May 2009, chaired by broadcaster George Alagiah. Details of the book are available at www.durham.ac.uk/thinking/.

Anglo

• Professor Sydney Anglo delivered the Annual Lecture for the Society of Renaissance Studies on 8 May 2009 on 'Keeping it in the Frame - recording and planning movement in Renaissance Europe'.

Attridge

• Professors Derek Attridge, Simon Blackburn, Richard Evans, and Alan Ryan discussed the books they regard as definitive in their fields in Times Higher Education ('The book everyone wishes they'd written', Times Higher Education, 23 April 2009)

Barnard

• Dr Toby Barnard wrote on the illustrious past and threatened future of academic publishing in Ireland in a feature article in the TLS ('Textual healing: Ireland, land of scholars and publisher saints', TLS, 8 May 2009)

Barrell

• Professor John Barrell considered the life and career of Dr Thomas Beddoes, the 18th-century philosopher, physician and philanthropist ('Dephlogisticated', John Barrell, London Review of Books, 19 November 2009)

Bate

• Professor Jonathan Bate appeared on BBCR4’s Any Questions? on 4 September 2009, in a special edition from Lichfield marking the tercentenary of Samuel Johnson. (Any Questions?, BBCR4, 4 September 2009, transcript also available)
• Professor Jonathan Bate considered the influence of Michel de Montaigne on the writing of William Shakespeare in an article in the Times Higher Education (‘”Hide thy life”: the key to Shakespeare’, Times Higher Education, 6 August 2009)

Beer

• Professor Dame Gillian Beer participated in the 2009 Cambridge Festival of Ideas, discussing the origin of ideas ('Where do ideas come from?' Cambridge Festival of Ideas, 22 October 2009, podcast available via the Guardian website)
• Dame Gillian Beer appeared on 'Leading Edge' on BBCR4 discussing attitudes to Darwin and the theory of evolution, and particularly how Darwin's attitude to religion changed over the years. (Leading Edge, BBCR4, 4 June 2009)
• Dame Gillian Beer participated in Art and Science Now: The Two Cultures in Question, a discussion on whether the gulf between the arts and sciences has widened or narrowed in the fifty years since CP Snow's famous 'two cultures' lecture (TATE, 24 January 2009)
• Dame Gillian Beer participated in 'Picture This at Somerset House', in which eminent writers talked about their favourite painting in the Courtauld collection (Dame Gillian talked about Conversation by Vanessa Bell on 21 January 2009)

Bent

• Dr Margaret Bent received the 2009 Claude Palisca Award from the American Musicological Society for Bologna Q15: The Making and Remaking of a Musical Manuscript, an introductory study and facsimile edition described by the judging panel as ‘a scholarly achievement of the highest order’ (reported to the Academy on 12 December 2009).

Bingham

• Lord Bingham appeared on Unreliable Evidence discussing the ongoing legal arguments around assisted suicide, mercy killing and the precise definition of death (Unreliable Evidence, BBCR4, 13 May 2009)

Blackburn

• Professor Simon Blackburn participated in the 2009 Cambridge Festival of Ideas, discussing the need for a new moral code to deal with the issues confronting the world ('Do we need a new morality for the 21st century?', Cambridge Festival of Ideas, 2 November 2009, podcast available via the Guardian website)

Blanning

• Professor Tim Blanning, in conversation with Ian Bostridge, a former BA PDF, discussed the status of the musician in society (‘More popular than Jesus - the hubris of the music industry’, Standpoint magazine, January 2009)

Boardman

• Sir John Boardman has been awarded the inaugural Onassis International Prize in Humanities, which recognises international distinction in promoting Greek cultural heritage in the fields of Archaeology, History and Literature. More information about the prize is available from the Onassis Foundation, and in the press release from the University of Oxford website.

Bogdanor

• Professor Vernon Bogdanor gave his take on the changing relationship between the universities and government in an article in Times Higher Education ('Misguided philistines in a relationship that is doomed to failure', THE, 12 November 2009 )
• Professor Vernon Bogdanor’s book, The New British Constitution, formed the basis of an article on the creation of the Supreme Court, and why this has been so little reported or discussed (‘Britain’s new Supreme Court - Why has a fundamental change in the constitution been so little reported and debated?’, Joshua Rozenburg, Times Literary Supplement, 2 September 2009)
• Professor Vernon Bogdanor wrote on Gordon Brown's agenda for constitutional reform, and what legislative steps would be required to implement it (We need a new constitution for Britain — and the debate has begun, The Times, 1 June 2009)
• Professor Vernon Bogdanor’s latest book, The New British Constitution, which examines creeping constitutional change in the UK, was selected as book of the week by the Times Higher Education (Book of the week: The New British Constitution, THE, 13 August 2009)
• Professor Vernon Bogdanor wrote on the crisis over MPs' expenses, in which he traced the origins of the crisis and suggested radical actions to be taken to address it, including taking responsibility for pay and allowances out of MPs' hands altogether (Parliament must be saved from itself, The Times, 14 May 2009)
• Professor Vernon Bogdanor profiled in the Guardian's 'academic experts' series ('Ruling class', Guardian, 17 February 2009)
• Professor Vernon Bogdanor CBE has been awarded the Sir Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution by the Political Studies Association (PSA Awards 2008, reported 8 January 2009)

Boyle

• Professor Nicholas Boyle received the 2009 Friedrich Gundolf Prize from the Deutsch Akademie for the imparting of German culture abroad, which is rarely given to British scholars on 24 May 2009 (announcement on the Akademie's website)

Buiter

• Professor Willem Buiter profiled in the Guardian's series on 'academic experts' (Sterling Critic, Guardian, 6 January 2009)
• Professors Willem Buiter and Charles Goodhart gave evidence to a Parliamentary hearing on the banking crisis (The banking crisis - parliamentary hearing - how it happened, Guardian, 13 January 2009)

Cannadine

• Professor David Cannadine was appointed Knight Bachelor in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List.

Carey

• Professor John Carey reassessed the life and career of Samuel Johnson in a review of David Nokes's new biography of the writer (Samuel Johnson: A Life by David Nokes, The Sunday Times, 13 September 2009)
• Professor John Carey's biography of William Golding has been widely reviewed, and was the BBC's book of the week for the week beginning 7 September 2009. Professor Carey appeared on BBC4's Front Row to discuss Golding as an author and as a person (Front Row, BBCR4, 28 August 2009)

Carr

• Professor Sir Raymond Carr discussed Arthur Ransome's place in the pantheon of inter-war literary luminaries in a review of Roland Chambers' biography of the author, The Last Englishman: The double life of Arthur Ransome (From Russia with love, The Spectator, 26 August 2009)
• Professor Sir Raymond Carr discussed the rise and fall of fascism in the UK during the 1930s with Nicholas Mosley (son of Sir Oswald) in the light of the BNP’s successes in the June 2009 bye-elections (‘When Britain Feared the Blackshirts, Nicholas Mosley and Sir Raymond Carr’, Standpoint Magazine, July/August 2009 edition

Cave

• Professor Terence Cave has been awarded one of 2009's International Balzan Prizes. The award was made for his outstanding contributions to a new understanding of Renaissance literature and of the influence of Aristotelian poetics in modern European literature (Announced on the Balzan Prize website 7 September 2009)

Clarke

• Professor Peter Clarke appeared on BBCR4's Today programme discussing, with Lord Lamont, what John Maynard Keynes would really have made of the financial crisis and the credit crunch and how they have been managed. (Today, BBCR4, 25 September 2009, 8.55am)

Coles

• Professor John Coles has been awarded a gold medal by the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities for his research on rock carvings, and the donation of his unique collection of casts of rock carvings to the National Heritage Board of Sweden. The medal was presented in a ceremony in Stockholm on 20 March 2009. (reported 19 March 2009)

Colley

• Professor Linda Colley was appointed CBE in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List.

Collini

• Professor Stefan Collini reassessed J. B. Priestley's English Journey in a review of a reissued version ('From the Motorcoach', Stefan Collini, London Review of Books, 19 November 2009)
• Professor Stefan Collini considered the concept of 'impact' in connection to academic research, and sets out the particular difficulties of its application to the humanities ('Impact on humanities', Stefan Collini, Times Literary Supplement, 13 November 2009 (pp. 18-9)).
• Professor Stefan Collini reassessed the ‘Movement’ poets of the 1950s in a review of The Movement Reconsidered: Essays on Larkin, Amis, Gunn, Davie and Their Contemporaries edited by Zachary Leader in the London Review of Books (‘Self-Positioning’, Stefan Collini, London Review of Books, 25 June 2009)

Cook

• Professor Nicholas Cook has been appointed to the Chair of Music at the University Cambridge, one of the most senior appointments in the University, with effect from early April 2009 (reported16 April 2009 )

Crafts

• Professor Nick Crafts has been awarded a major ESRC grant of £3.6m over 5 years from 2009-10, towards the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE). This is one of 3 new ESRC centres focusing on the economic wellbeing of the UK (announced 25 February 2009)

Crystal

• Professor David Crystal’s autobiography, Just A Phrase I’m Going Through: My life in language, was reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement (‘David Crystal, language geek. Linguistic memoirs – with a whiff of anorak’, TLS, 3 September 2009)

Curtis

• Professor John Curtis appeared on BBCR4's Today programme, discussing the damage done to the ancient site of Babylon during the invasion of Iraq, the archaeological importance of the area and the current condition of the site (Today, 29 January 2009, 8.55am)

deCardi

• Beatrice de Cardi, recently identified by the Independent as the world’s oldest archaeologist, was honoured this year at the second international conference on the archaeology of the United Arab Emirates with a presentation from the federal government for her work over many years in the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah and help with the national museum (reported 23 August 2009).

Devine

• Professor Tom Devine participated in a discussion entitled ‘Scotland Exports the Enlightenment’ as part of a series of events on ‘The Enlightenment: An 18th Century Revolution of Thought’ organised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in parallel with the Edinburgh Festival (16 August 2009, details available via Royal Society of Edinburgh website)

Diamond

• Professor Ian Diamond, Chief Executive of the ESRC, has been appointed to the Vice-Chancellorship of the University of Aberdeen. He will take up his post on 1 October 2010. ('University of Aberdeen appoints next Principal and Vice Chancellor', University of Aberdeen press release, 30 September 2009)

Dickinson

• Professor Peter Dickson has been honoured by the publication of a collection of essays celebrating his scholarly achievements in the field of state finances in 18th century Europe and his contribution to the understanding of the ‘fiscal-military state’ (The Fiscal Military State in Eighteenth Century Europe: Essays in honour of P. G. M. Dickson, ed ChristopherStorrs, Ashgate, February 2009)

Duffy

• Professor Eamon Duffy's book, Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor, has been selected one of the Sunday Times' history books of the year ('The Sunday Times Christmas books: history', Sunday Times, 13 December 2009 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6940553.ece)

Dunbar

• Professor Robin Dunbar discussed social structure, the number of friends one can have at any one time, and the impact of social networking websites on this (The World Tonight, 30 April 2009 (scroll to the last four or five minutes of the programme))

Dworkin

• Professor Ronald Dworkin considers the implications for the US constitution of the confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor in the 24 September 2009 edition of the New York Review of Books (‘Justice Sotomayor: The Unjust Hearings’, NYRB, 24 September 2009)