Academics from six Humanities faculties selected as Fellows of the British Academy
Six academics from six Oxford Humanities faculties have been elected Fellows of the British Academy for their distinguished contributions to research across the arts, humanities and social sciences.
Professor Dan Grimley, Head of Humanities, said: ‘I am delighted that six outstanding Oxford academics doing world-leading research in the humanities have been recognised with British Academy Fellowships. The high number of awardees, and the fact they are spread across six academic faculties, reflects the breadth, rigour and impact of humanities research in Oxford. Congratulations to all of the new Fellows.’
The new Fellows are:
Professor Katherine Clarke, Professor of Greek and Roman History in the Faculty of Classics and a Fellow of St Hilda’s College. Her research interests are wide and Professor Clarke teaches mostly late Republican and Early Imperial Roman History.
Professor Clarke said: ‘I am delighted and deeply honoured to have been invited to join the distinguished community of British Academy Fellows. The study of Classical Antiquity and of its authors who already offered piercing analysis of many of today’s problems – the prevalence of tyrannical régimes and the constant re-negotiation of geopolitical power - has never seemed so pressing and relevant. I look forward to contributing to the British Academy’s mission to promote and develop SHAPE subjects both as disciplines of intrinsic scholarly and intellectual value, and as the inspiration for humane solutions to contemporary issues.’
Professor Nicolai Sinai, a Professor of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a Fellow of Pembroke College. His research includes the literary aspects of the Qur’an, the Qur'an's engagement with Jewish and Christian traditions and late antique Arabia and the life of Muhammad.
Professor Sinai said: 'I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the British Academy, a community that includes many scholars whose work I admire and a vital champion of the humanities. I am hoping to make a useful contribution to its activities.'
Professor Mark Edwards, Professor of Early Christian Studies in the Faculty of Theology and Religion and a Tutor at Christ Church, whose research interests include Patristics, Platonism. New Testament, Nineteenth Century and Philosophy of Religion.
Professor Edwards said: ‘I am honoured and flattered by this award, and grateful above all that the British Academy continues to support the smaller subjects in the Humanities, without which there could be no serious research in the major disciplines, and consequently no advance in public thinking in the sciences, politics or medicine either.’
Professor Jonathan Cross, Professor of Musicology in the Faculty of Music and a Tutor at Christ Church. He specialises in the study of the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. His work ranges from a biographical study of Igor Stravinsky to analytical approaches to contemporary computer-aided compositional practices.
Professor Cross said: ‘I am deeply honoured by this recognition from the British Academy, but I am also the first to acknowledge that this could not have been achieved without the collaboration and support of colleagues, family and friends, to whom I am immensely grateful. I look forward to working with the Academy to continue to help raise the profile of and argue for the value of the humanities in all aspects of our national life. I am also delighted that this honour will bring renewed attention to the Oxford Ertegun Humanities Graduate Programme as I take up its Directorship for the next three years.’
Professor Pekka Hämäläinen, the Rhodes Professor of American History in the Faculty of History, and a Fellow of St Catherine’s College. He specialises in indigenous, colonial, imperial, environmental, and borderlands history.
Professor Hämäläinen said: ‘I’m delighted and deeply honoured to be elected to the British Academy and look forward with real pleasure to contributing to its important work.’
Professor Daniel Wakelin, Jeremy Griffiths Professor of Medieval English Palaeography in the Faculty of English and a Fellow of St Hilda's College. His research focuses on early printed copies of English literature, primarily from the 1100s to the 1500s.
Professor Wakelin said: ‘I’ve always been keen to build bridges between the study of manuscripts, literature and language, so I am delighted to be joining the interdisciplinary group in Medieval Studies at the British Academy. ‘We have a thriving group of students and teachers in medieval manuscript studies and literary studies at St Hilda’s College and in Oxford’s English Faculty and Humanities Division; I look forward to helping to foster these fields, and the Humanities in general, more widely across the UK and beyond through the British Academy.’
12 academics from Oxford in total are among 52 new Fellows. They join a community of more than 1,600 distinguished peers. Current Fellows include the classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard and the Oxford historian Professor Rana Mitter. You can read more on the University website.
