King’s PhD student Sarah Jilani has been selected as one of the ten New Generation Thinkers for 2021 by a joint committee of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and BBC Radio 3. As part of the scheme, Sarah will have the opportunity to communicate her research to those outside of the academic community by making programmes for BBC radio and regularly appearing on air.
Currently in the fourth-year of her PhD, Sarah’s research focuses on subjectivity and decolonisation in the film and literatures of post-independence (1950s-80s) Africa and South Asia. Her thesis investigates how and why decolonisation can be understood as a process of transforming both the self and the material world, in the oeuvres of writers and filmmakers including Satyajit Ray, Buchi Emecheta, Kamala Markandaya and Ousmane Sembène. Sarah’s academic work has been published in various peer-reviewed journals, while her freelance writing on contemporary art, film and books can be found in The Times Literary Supplement, The Economist, The Guardian, ArtReview and Frieze magazine, amongst others.
On being named a New Generation Thinker for 2021, Sarah said:
I am delighted to have this chance to translate my research into programmes that will reach a wide audience - something I've been passionate about throughout my time at King's.
Executive Chair of the AHRC, Professor Chris Smith, commented:
New Generation Thinkers is a flagship scheme for the AHRC and is vital in supporting the next generation of arts and humanities researchers to connect with the public and challenge what we think we know. For over a decade, the scheme has brought academic research to a wider audience … and continues to provide researchers with a unique opportunity to share their findings, push their research in new directions, and develop their communication skills.
The selected New Generation Thinkers for 2021 were introduced as part of a special episode of Free Thinking on BBC Radio 3 on the 17th March which is available to listen to on BBC Sounds [Sarah is introduced at 17m52].
