We are pleased to announce that Tom Scott-Smith, Associate Professor of Refugee Studies and Forced Migration, has been selected as one of this year’s ten AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinkers.
The New Generation Thinkers scheme is one of the major ways the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) engages the public with the inspiring research taking place across the UK. It’s a chance for early career researchers, with support and training provided by AHRC and the BBC, to cultivate the skills to communicate their research findings to those outside the academic community; helping the next generation of researchers find new and wider audiences for their research by giving them a platform to share their ideas and allowing them to have the space to challenge our thinking.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the scheme, during which 100 early career arts and humanities researchers have had unique access to training and support from AHRC and the BBC. New Generation Thinkers alumni have gone on to become prominent public figures in their field as well as the face of major documentaries, TV series, and regular figures in public debate.
Throughout the year, the new cohort will work with BBC producers to develop their ideas to showcase a vibrant mix of research from across the arts and humanities that will capture the public imagination.
About Tom
Tom Scott-Smith’s first book, On an Empty Stomach: Two Hundred Years of Hunger Relief, examines the history of humanitarian nutritional technologies, high protein foods, and emergency rations. It will be published on 15 April by Cornell University Press. He is now writing a book on disaster shelter, studying seven attempts to provide emergency accommodation to refugees since 2015. This research is featured in the 2020 Imperial War Museum exhibition, Refugees. As a former aid worker, Tom is particularly interested in the paradoxes of aid, focusing on how humanitarians respond to basic human needs and negotiate political disputes. His research specialises in the ethnographic and historical study of humanitarian relief.
Visit the AHRC website for further information.