Benjamin Thomas White
@rain_later
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Teaching and researching refugee history. Rarely on here these days. He/his.
Pollokshields
Joined April 2013
For people who've followed me today: hello! I teach and research refugee history. I'm always happy to bring a historical perspective to public discussions of refugee issues—contact me on here or at my work email (I'm easy to google).
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RT @UofGHistory: Congratulations to our History graduate Ellie Smith whose post 'Clothing a camp' is now available on .
refugeehistory.org
Our blog is a dynamic space for established and emerging scholars, practitioners and other experts to discuss the historical and contemporary perspectives on refugee and migration issues.
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(For that matter, I'd be interested to know if any Black historians other than Hakim Adi have ever been shortlisted. The Past Winners pages include full shortlists as far back as 2017 and I'm pretty sure no other Black scholars appear.).
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I'd be interested to know if the Wolfson History Prize has ever been given to a Black historian. I suspect not.
wolfsonhistoryprize.org.uk
Discover the winners of the Wolfson History Prize, going back to 1972.
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Meanwhile, in parts of British academic not inhabited by the Wolfson judges:.
theguardian.com
Critics say courses are being closed that played a leading role in addressing racial disparities in higher education
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Short thread from over the weekend, if you missed it:.
I'm coming back on here briefly for this year's #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlist. (Spoiler: same as it ever was.).
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RT @rain_later: I'm coming back on here briefly for this year's #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlist. (Spoiler: same as it ever was.).
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Oh—and in case you're wondering, I'll be along for the Royal Historical Society shortly.
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And, again, a reminder that these threads are intended as constructive criticism:.
I think a lot needs to change. If the Foundation is concerned to reward the best historical writing in the UK, the process would need to be reformed at every stage from nominations to shortlisting to judging. They'd need to keep an eye on outcomes over time too.
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So: things do indeed need to change; they haven't; they're not going to anytime soon.
But I note that the current chair of the prize judges is also:. - a trustee of the Foundation.- chair of its Heritage, Humanities & the Arts Panel.- and a member of its Nominations & Governance Committee.
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As ever, you'd hardly know that there were more than a handful of universities in the UK.
en.wikipedia.org
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The other two shortlistees don't appear to have ever studied or worked at Oxford or Cambridge (though one of them did his MA and PhD at Harvard).
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. and one person who did his PhD at Oxford, later became a professor there, but moved to Yale a few years ago.
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One person who did a BA at Oxford then went to King's College London for an MA and NYU for a PhD before returning to a junior research fellowship at Oxford, and is now working at UCL. .
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One person who came to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, did an MPhil and PhD at Cambridge, and is now a professor at Oxford. .
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The authors of this year's six shortlisted books include:. One person who did her (second) undergraduate degree and PhD at Cambridge, and is now professor emeritus there. .
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A recap: there is now a panel of six judges, five of them professor, professor emeritus, or visiting professor at Oxford or Cambridge. (The other took undergraduate degrees at both of them.).
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More previously (2023):.
The #WolfsonHistoryPrize shortlist was announced this week. Last year's shortlist demonstrated how narrowly the prize defined 'prestige' in history writing. "Things need to change", the Wolfson Foundation CEO admitted to the Bookseller. So, what's changed?. Not much!.
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