From May until October of this year we have been inviting members to submit short pitches on their ideas for potential TV or radio programmes based on research within the discipline. We received an overwhelming number of pitches for the initiative which is now back for its second year.
Pitches covered a wide range of topics and the quality was extremely high. The shortlisting panel, which included Jonathan Brunert (BBC Radio 4), Tom Garton (Shiver), Jessica Holmes (AFP), Sarah Nichols (ESRC) and Professor Matt Flinders, did not have an easy job. However we are pleased to reveal that the following authors have been put through to the next round and been invited to present their ideas at our Grand Pitching Event:
- ‘Why can’t women in Northern Ireland get an abortion?’ – Jennifer Thomson (Queen Mary, University of London)
- Before Obama: The Pioneers of Black Politics in White Worlds – Richard Johnson (University of Oxford)
- Britain: A Great Power? – Victoria Honeyman (University of Leeds)
- The Peace Puzzle – Marc Weller (University of Cambridge)
- Suicides in Prison: Should we care? – Philippa Tomczak (University of Sheffield)
It’s not EU… – Simon Usherwood (University of Surrey)- How good is your country? – Beth Derks, Lee Marsden, Simon Anholt (University of East Anglia)
- Global land grab: Ordinary people in an extraordinary process – Nikita Sud (University of Oxford)
- More than a song: Politics, nomads and meaning – Férdia Stone-Davis (University of Cambridge)
- Anatomy of a disaster: making the most of critical events – Gina Reinhardt (University of Essex)
- Combine good evidence and emotional stories to change the world – Paul Cairney (University of Stirling)
- What does it mean to be young and radical, and how should we deal with radicalism? – Akil Awan (Royal Holloway, University of London)
- Myths of Western World History – John Hobson (University of Sheffield)
We are extremely grateful to all those who submitted pitches and would encourage those that were not shortlisted to re-apply next year. A Total Exposure session is planned for the Annual Conference in Glasgow.
The Grand Pitching Event takes place on 26 January 2017 at the Royal Society of Arts in London. The full programme for the day is available to download here.
Pitchers will be invited to present their ideas and then respond to questions from our Expert Panel. This year’s panel includes Jonathan Brunert (BBC Radio 4), Tom Garton (Shiver), Rachel Jupp (BBC Panorama), Steve Titherington (BBC World Service) and Emma Hoskyns (ITV).
