Three researchers appointed British Academy Fellows

Three researchers have been recognised for their distinctive contribution to the humanities and social sciences by the British Academy.

The Academy has awarded Fellowships to Professor Maria Cristina Fumagalli, an expert in Caribbean literature and culture, Professor Kristian Skrede Gleditsch, Essex’s Regius Professor of Political Science, and Professor Lydia Morris, a sociologist who studies human rights.

They are included in a list of 86 new Fellows representing a diverse range of specialisms across the humanities and social sciences.

They join a community of more than 1,700 distinguished academics that includes classicist Professor Dame Mary Beard, and philosopher and former Essex Professor Baroness Onora O’Neill.

Professor Fumagalli, from the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, is an expert in the literatures, cultures, and visual arts of the Caribbean and its diasporas in a global context.

She said: “I am deeply honoured to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy. At a time when literature and the arts are so unfairly underappreciated and under threat, I feel extremely privileged to receive this recognition from my peers, and from the British Academy, an institution whose support for the arts and the humanities is unwavering. I am looking forward to contributing to its mission with all the other Fellows.

“It is my hope that my Fellowship will lend further visibility to the invaluable work of all my colleagues in Caribbean Studies and in the Department of Literature Film, and Theatre Studies whose unique profile and vibrant community of scholars continues to transform and enrich the lives of so many students.”

Professor Gleditsch, from the Department of Government, is Essex’s current Regius Professor of Political Science. Essex was awarded the UK’s first ever Regius Professorship in Political Science in 2013 by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

His areas of expertise include violent and non-violent conflict, mobilisation and political change, spatial statistical analysis, and how predictive methods can improve analysis, evaluation and policy debate.

Professor Gleditsch said: “I am very honoured to have been elected as a fellow of the British Academy. I hope to be able to contribute to the British Academy's work in speaking up for the humanities and the social sciences, supporting research, informing debate, as well as fostering international engagement and collaboration.”

Professor Morris, from the Department of Sociology and Criminology, is a sociologist interested in the conceptualisation and empirical analysis of citizen's rights, migrant's rights and human rights, their mutual interconnections, and their appropriation as a tool of governance.

She said: “It is a great honour to be elected as a Fellow of the British Academy and I look forward to working with this community of scholars.”

Welcoming the new Fellows for 2024, President of the British Academy Professor Julia Black added: “Since the Academy was created in 1902, our Fellows have been the lifeblood of the organisation, representing the very best of our disciplines – and we would not have the impact we have without their expertise, time and energy. I very much look forward to working closely with our new Fellows; the breadth and depth of their expertise adds so much to the Academy.”