Books under threat - article by Matthew Gandy

12th May, 2023

 

In Matthew Gandy's new article in Area he explores some worrying trends in relation to academic book publishing. In particular, Matthew argues that the UKRI open access mandate for books risks entrenching existing forms of academic inequality as well as undermining the significance of books as a distinctive facet of intellectual life.

Madeleine Ary Hahne wins Vice-Chancellor's Social Impact Award

11th May, 2023

 

Congratulations to our PhD student Madeleine Hahne!

The awards, organised by Cambridge Hub, recognise and celebrate exceptional achievement in contributing to society.

Madeleine is the co-founder of climate action non-profit Vision of Soon, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, an honorary Woolf Institute Scholar, and a PhD candidate in Geography researching how conservative religionists view climate change. She also worked for the National Democratic Institute where she helped run an International Electoral Observation Mission in Beirut, Lebanon and train Kurdish parliamentary candidates in Dohuk, Iraq. She is a former Obama White House Intern and holds a Cambridge MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Dr Anthony Freeling said: "The winners have demonstrated that innovation and perseverance can go a long way in making a positive impact on society. Their accomplishments serve as an inspiration to us all."

Pushkin Prize nomination for Dr Olga Petri

9th May, 2023

 

Many congratulations to Dr Olga Petri on being nominated for the 2023 Pushkin House Book Prize, which is awarded annually to books on and about Russia, its people, history and culture. Dr Petri's debut monograph, Places of Tenderness and Heat: The Queer Milieu of Fin-de-Siècle St. Petersburg (Cornell University Press) is a novel exploration of the historical geography of queer male sexuality and sociality in imperial Russia. The Pushkin Prize judges include scholars, writers, and creative artists, and consider works from a very wide range of disciplines and topics and a very competitive field. To be part of a shortlist of just six works is an amazing honour! The winner will be announced on June 15th at Pushkin House in London. Congratulations also go to Olga for her appointment to a teaching associate position in the Department, beginning in September this year.

Professor Sarah Hall appointed to the '1931 Chair in Geography'

2nd May, 2023

 

We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Sarah Hall to the 1931 Chair in Geography. Sarah is currently Professor of Economic Geography in the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham, and a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director at the ESRC-funded academic think tank 'UK in a Changing Europe'.

Professor Hall is a public economic geographer, whose work develops new, cultural economy approaches to understanding economic change, especially in relation to UK-China and UK-EU relations. Professor Hall is the seventh, and first female, holder of the 1931 Chair, the first established professorship in Geography at Cambridge and one of the oldest in the country. Sarah will take up her appointment at the University of Cambridge on 1^st October 2023.

Mike Hulme, Head of Department

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