The first broadcasts by the AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers have now taken place as part of the Night Waves programme on Radio 3 and one of them is still available to listen to as a BBC podcast.
The ten academics from British universities were selected from more than 1,000 applicants for the scheme run by BBC Radio 3 in conjunction with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
The scheme, which is in its first year, is aimed at early career researchers who are passionate about communicating their scholarship to a wider audience. The ten researchers on the scheme are working with mentors on Night Waves to develop and present their own shows.
The first broadcasts by the ten New Generation Thinkers covered the following topics:
Alex Harris (Liverpool University) - Can poets help us endure the cold?
Zoe Norridge (York University) - Cultural responses to the Rwandan genocide
Laurence Scott (King’s College London) - Tennis and literature
Lucy Powell (UCL) - A reflection on the phrase 'doing time' in prison and why it all changed in the 18th century
Philip Roscoe (St Andrews) - The economics and morality of dating agencies.
David Petts (Durham University) - The commercialisation of British archaeology
Shahidha Bari (QMUL) - Re-routing the genealogy of English Romanticism through the East of the Arabian Nights
Rachel Hewitt (QMUL) - A revolution in feeling: the failed radicalism of the 1790s
Jon Adams (LSE) - Radical thinking about cities: animals and insects
Corin Throsby (Cambridge University) - 'Generation Facebook' and 19th Century commonplace books
The Zoe Norridge piece is featured on the Radio 3 Arts & Ideas podcast ‘Light Fantastic, Raymond Tallis, Libya, New Generation Thinker Tue, 5 Jul 11’ and can be downloaded here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/r3arts#playepisode2
Speaking about the scheme Dr Norridge commented: “It's a great honour to be one of the final New Generation Thinkers. I've enjoyed meeting inspirational colleagues from across the UK over the last few months and am keen to forge ongoing relations with Radio 3's Night Waves.”
The final broadcast in the initial series was made by Cambridge researcher Dr Corin Throsby, who is specialising in the history of fan mail. Dr. Throsby talked about 19th-century ‘commonplace books’ – scrapbooks in which people copied their favourite poems and collected together other items – and showing how they were the basis for an early version of what we now call social networking.
You can read much more about her work at http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/commonplace-books-were-a-precursor-of-facebook/
Speaking of the scheme Dr Throsby said “It’s amazing to be part of the scheme and there’s a great feeling of camaraderie between the ten of us taking part. I’m learning an enormous amount about how to communicate in a way that’s accessible and relevant to the audience.”
The next broadcasts by the ten are likely to be in the Autumn and many of them will be contributing to Radio 3's annual Festival of Ideas ‘Free Thinking’ which takes place at the Sage in Gateshead in November.
ENDS
AHRC Media contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, 01793 416021; j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Notes to Editors:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Each year the AHRC provides approximately £100 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes hundreds of research awards ranging from individual fellowships to major collaborative projects as well as over 1,100 studentship awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.