Professor Maisha Wester has been awarded a grant under the British Academy’s Global Professorship Programme 2020. The award also means that Maisha is a Global Professorship 2020 fellow of the British Academy, which is a beautiful accomplishment. Her host institution is University of Sheffield, where she will give lectures and conduct research on “the impact of Gothic fiction on the development/formation of racial/anti-black discourses. The goal is to create a virtual reality environment that helps people learn /develop racial empathy.” She will also be given opportunities to lecture at other institutions around the UK. The purpose of the Global Professorship Programme is to “demonstrate and further enhance the UK’s commitment to international research partnerships and collaboration as well as strengthen the UK’s research capacity and capability in the humanities and the social sciences.” Further, Global Professorships are designed to provide “mid-career to senior scholars—active in any discipline within the social sciences and the humanities and based in any country overseas—with the opportunity to relocate for a period of four years to the UK and make a contribution to UK research and higher education.”
The grant includes research funds, travel funds, funds to host conferences/symposiums, and salary. Professor Wester will reside in the UK during the grant period, which is September 23, 2020 through September 22, 2024.
The College of Arts