Skip to main content

Thought Leadership

Collaboration, innovation and sustainability: creating Durham’s Energy Systems Management Programme

Dr Joanna Berry, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, talks about working with Boeing, and the development of an exciting new Masters programme to equip students with the skills to accelerate the transition to a Net Zero world.
A green leaf in soil against an industrial background

Sudan coup: years of instability have made the army key power brokers

Professor Justin Willis, from our Department of History, looks back on Sudan's history in light of the recent military coup against Sudanese civilian political leaders.
Brown wooden map featuring libya, egypt, sudan, ethiopia, somalia, saudi arabia

Tracing the history of offshore cyclones

Dr Ed Pope, from our Department of Geography, has been appointed as a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Independent Research Fellow. Here, he explores his research, which will focus on understanding the offshore record of tropical cyclones.
A headshot of Dr Ed Pope, with an aerial shot of a typhoon

How archaeology is shining a light on our understanding of the emergence of identity in England

Earlier this year Professor Sarah Semple, Head of our Department of Archaeology, was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 series 'This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England', which explores four great Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England and traces of their legacy today. Here, Sarah tells us how she got involved in the programme, how it links to the work of the Archaeology department and what Archaeology can tell us about the history of the North East of England.
Image showing site of archaeological dig

Sarah Everard, police culture and the ‘masculinised’ workplaces we can all help change

Professor Nicole Westmarland, Dr Stephen Burrell and Honorary Fellow Sandy Ruxton, from our Department of Sociology, address misogyny in our society and the role of organisations in preventing men’s violence against women.
Male police officer standing in quiet street

Why Shari'a law might be better suited for state-building in Somalia than external ideas

Professor Justin Willis, from our Department of History, comments on Shari'a law in Somalia and, in particular, Shari’a, Insha’allah which was recently published by Professor Mark Fathi Massoud from the University of California.
Aerial view to Hargeisa, biggest city of Somaliland, Somalia

James McCune Smith: new discovery reveals how first African American doctor fought for women’s rights in Glasgow

Professor Matthew Daniel Eddy, from our Department of Philosophy, has found new evidence of the first known research paper to be published in a British medical journal by an African American doctor.
A portrait of Dr James McCune Smith

Boris Johnson wants to pay Stem teachers a £3,000 premium – research shows incentives don’t work

Professor Stephen Gorard and Professor Beng Huat See, from our School of Education, ask if the idea of paying £3,000 to attract maths and science teachers to poorer schools and areas will work?
Children in a Science Class

Sats – why bringing back tests for 14-year-olds could help disadvantaged students

Professor Stephen Gorard and Dr Nadia Siddiqui, from the School of Education, consider if bringing back SATs for 14 year olds will help disadvantaged students.
Empty classroom with desks & chairs

If we’re serious about ending violence against women, we need to talk about culture

Dr Fiona Vera-Gray, from our Department of Sociology, addresses the way women are depicted onscreen and the real-life consequences.
A woman holding a protest sign saying silence is violence

Japan’s love affair with the fax machine – a strange relic of technological fantasies

Dr Hansun Hsiung, from our School of Modern Languages and Cultures, discusses Japan's previously high-tech image and their current position in the global race to digitise.
Fax machine isolated on white background with clipping path

How the British navy hid the heroic voyage of crippled second world war submarine HMS Triumph

Professor Tim Luckhurst, Principal of South College, looks back on how the British media covered the Second World War.
HMSM Triumph Underway after reconstruction between 1939-1945