Schools

Featured lectures

Selections from our lecture programme relevant to secondary school and higher education subject areas.

Featured_lecture_Catherine_Hall

Legacies of British Slave Ownership

Prof Catherine Hall, Chair of the Centre for the study of British Slave-ownership, UCL

Subject area: History

Module: Colonial Global Economy

Featured_lecture_Michaela_Benson

‘Global Britain’ and the coloniality of British citizenship

Prof Michaela Benson

Subject area: Politics

Module: Migration, Borders, Diaspora

Featured_lecture_Poe_Hansen

Modern Migration Theory: The Macroeconomics of Sweden's Refugee Reception

Prof Peo Hansen

Subject area: Geography

Module: Migration, Borders, Diaspora

Resources for teachers

The Connected Sociologies Curriculum Project is designed to supplement teaching at A-level (GCE secondary school level) in related subjects. This page highlights lectures from the project that relate to specific subject areas and GCE courses. At present this includes recommendations for:

Migration, Borders, Diaspora – Lecture 1, 9 Nov 2021

Lecturer: Dr Lucy Mayblin

This lecture from Dr Lucy Mayblin provides a great starting point for a debate on attitudes and discourses around ‘migration’ and ‘asylum’ in the UK. Why, despite being located far from any current conflict zones, and hosting a tiny fraction of the world’s refugees, is the UK increasingly hostile to people who are seeking asylum? This could help stretch students studying or seeking to study the following:

  • Social Sciences (Sociology / Psychology / Anthropology/ Crimonology)
  • Media Studies
  • Law
  • Philosophy
  • Politics

Policing ‘Crime’ and ‘Violence’ – Lecture 3, 25 Mar 2021

Lecturer: Dr Vanessa E. Thompson, European University Viadrina

This lecture from Dr Vanessa E. Thompson, European University Viadrina provides a great starting point for a debate around the functions and consequences of policing in modern societies. This could help stretch students studying or seeking to study the following:

  • Social Sciences (Sociology / Psychology / Anthropology/ Crimonology)
  • Law
  • Philosophy
  • Politics

Policing ‘Crime’ and ‘Violence’ – Lecture 4, 23 Apr 2021

Lecturer: Dr Patrick Williams, Manchester Metropolitan University

This lecture from Dr Patrick Williams, Manchester Metropolitan University provides a great starting point for a debate around ‘gangs’ - what they are understood to be and what the consequences are for those believed to be in or at risk of being in a ‘gang’. This could help stretch students studying or seeking to study the following:

  • Social Sciences (Sociology / Psychology / Anthropology/ Crimonology)
  • Media Studies
  • Law
  • Philosophy
  • Politics

Policing ‘Crime’ and ‘Violence’ – Lecture 5, 15 Mar 2021

Lecturer: Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury, University of Manchester

This lecture from Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury, University of Manchester provides a great starting point for a debate around the function of the police in the UK today and their roles in schools. This could help stretch students studying or seeking to study the following:

  • Social Sciences (Sociology / Psychology / Anthropology/ Crimonology)
  • Law
  • Philosophy
  • Politics

History

The Haitian Revolution

The Making of the Modern World – Lecture 1, 2 Oct 2020

Lecturer: Prof Gurminder K Bhambra, University of Sussex

This lecture from Prof Gurminder K Bhambra, University of Sussex provides much-need consideration of the significance of the Haitian Revolution in the context of other revolutions of the time. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 2C.1: France in revolution, 1774–99
  • OCR A Level Unit 2: The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon 1774—1815

Colonialism, Immigration and the Making of British citizenship

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 1, 21 Feb 2021

Lecturer: Dr James Hampshire, University of Sussex

This lecture from Dr James Hampshire, University of Sussex provides an overview of the changes in what it has meant to be a ‘British citizen’ in modern Britain. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Britain 1930—1997

British Black Power

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 2, 1 Oct 2020

Lecturer: Dr John Narayan, Kings College London

This lecture from Dr John Narayan, Kings College London provides a detailed look at the Black Power movement in Britain. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Britain 1930—1997

Legacies of British Slave Ownership

Colonial Global Economy – Lecture 2, 1 Dec 2020

Lecturer: Prof Catherine Hall, Chair of the Centre for the study of British Slave-ownership, UCL

This lecture from Prof Catherine Hall, provides an explanation of the groundbreaking archival work done by the Centre for the study of British Slave-ownership in unearthing the imperial legacies of Transatlantic Slavery and the compensation paid out to British slave-owners. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 35.1: Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763–1914
  • Edexcel A Level 34.1: Industrialisation and social change in Britain, 1759–1928: forging a new society
  • AQA A Level 1F Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885
  • AQA A Level 1J The British Empire, c1857–1967
  • OCR A Level From colonialism to independence: The British Empire 1857—1965
  • AQA NEA - Britain and Jamaica Coursework Module

Colonial Policing Comes Home

Policing ‘Crime’ and ‘Violence’ – Lecture 2, 15 Feb 2021

Lecturer: Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper

This lecture from Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper, provides a detailed look at changes and continuities in the policing of black and Asian youth in the UK in the post-war period. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Britain 1930—1997

Enclosures and The Making of the Modern World

The Making of the Modern World – Lecture 3, 27 May 2021

Lecturer: Prof Imogen Tyler, University of Lancaster

This lecture from Prof Imogen Tyler, University of Lancaster provides the colonial context to the agricultural and industrial revolutions that transformed Britain into a modern capitalist state. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel History A Level - 1D: Britain, c1785–c1870: democracy, protest and reform
  • Edexcel History A Level Paper 3: Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763–1914
  • AQA 1F Industrialisation and the people: Britain, c1783–1885
  • OCR A Level - Unit 1: The making of Georgian Britain 1678 — c. 1760
  • OCR A Level - Unit 3: Thematic study and historical interpretations (unit group 3): The origins and growth of the British Empire 1558—1783

(Un)archiving Black British Feminisms

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 3, 18 Jun 2021

Lecturer: Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert, University of Warwick

This lecture from Alexandra Wanjiku Kelbert, University of Warwick provides an in-depth insight into various Black British Feminist groups and ideas and how they’ve been remembered. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Britain 1930—1997

The Grunwick strike

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 5, 13 Apr 2021

Lecturer: Prof Sundari Anitha, University of Lincoln

This lecture from Prof Sundari Anitha, University of Lincoln provides an in-depth look at the significance of the Grunwick Strike and what it revealed about Britain in the 1970s. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Britain 1930—1997

From Windrush to Grenfell

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 6, 1 Oct 2020

Lecturer: Dr Luke de Noronha, University of Manchester

This lecture from Dr Luke de Noronha, University of Manchester provides an overview of the changes and continuities in post-war immigration policy in the UK up to the present day. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Britain 1930—1997

Anti-Slavery, European Imperialism, and Paternalistic ‘Protection’ (1880s to 1950s)

Colonial Global Economy – Lecture 6, 10 May 2021

Lecturer: Professor Joel Quirk, University of the Witwatersrand

This lecture from Professor Joel Quirk, University of the Witwatersrand provides a critical look at 19th century British anti-slavery politics and its associations with European Imperialism. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 35.1: Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763–1914
  • AQA NEA - Britain and Jamaica Coursework Module

Decolonisation

The Making of the Modern World – Lecture 8, 30 Nov 2020

Lecturer: Dr Meera Sabaratnam, SOAS University of London

This lecture from Dr Meera Sabaratnam, SOAS University of London, provides a broad overview of struggles for decolonisation in the 20th century and asks what it has meant and continues to mean for the modern world. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel A Level 1H: Britain transformed, 1918–97
  • AQA A Level 1J: The British Empire, c1857–1967
  • AQA A Level 2S: The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
  • OCR A Level Thematic study and historical interpretations (unit group 3) From colonialism to independence: The British Empire 1857—1965

Politics

What is the Colonial Global Economy?

Colonial Global Economy – Lecture 1, 2 Nov 2020

Lecturer: Dr Paul Robert Gilbert, University of Sussex

This lecture from Dr Paul Robert Gilbert, University of Sussex provides an explanation of the concept of the ‘Colonial Global Economy’. Students will find an exploration of present-day structural inequalities in the global economy and global economic governance with case studies ready to use in essays. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 - Global Economic Governance

Asylum in Britain and the Legacies of Colonialism

Migration, Borders, Diaspora – Lecture 1, 9 Nov 2021

Lecturer: Dr Lucy Mayblin

This lecture from Dr Lucy Mayblin, provides an in-depth look at recent history and politics of ‘asylum seeking’ in the UK. Dr Mayblin explains who asylum seekers and refugees are, where refugee rights came from, and how we can understand current hostility to people seeking asylum when we situate the contemporary moment in the context of colonial histories. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - UK Politics: Debates over Rights
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Multiculturalism

Connected Sociologies of Pollution

The Environment and Climate Change – Lecture 1, 25 Apr 2022

Lecturer: Dr Su-ming Khoo

This lecture from Dr Su-ming Khoo, provides a detailed look at the connections between climate change and colonialism. Khoo takes Olof Palme’s speech at the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm as its starting point. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 Global Politics - Global Environmental and Economic Governance
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Ecologism

Colonial Dispossession and Extraction

The Making of the Modern World – Lecture 2, 9 Nov 2020

Lecturer: Dr Su-ming Khoo, National University of Ireland, Galway

This lecture from Dr Su-ming Khoo, National University of Ireland, Galway provides a detailed understanding of the consequences of colonialism for global development. Khoo’s lecture is particularly useful for A Level students considering the causes, consequences between climate change and inequality. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 Global Politics - Global Environmental and Economic Governance

Early Modern Social Theory: Europe and its ‘Others’

Modern Social Theory – Lecture 2, 14 Oct 2021

Lecturer: Prof John Holmwood

This lecture from Prof John Holmwood, provides a look at the thinking of both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke - two named ‘key thinkers’ on the Edexcel specification. Holmwood places both thinkers within the context of the Enlightenment and explores how colonialism informed these ideas. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - Ideologies: Liberalism and Conservatism

Racialised Capitalism

Colonial Global Economy – Lecture 3, 24 Feb 2021

Lecturer: Dr Lisa Tilley, Birkbeck University of London

This lecture from Dr Lisa Tilley, Birkbeck University of London provides an explanation of the concept of racial capitalism. Although not specifically named in the A Level, Robinson’s ideas relate closely to ‘dependency theory’ and sit within the broad category of ‘revolutionary socialism’ the exam board provides. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 - Global Economic Governance: Dependency Theory
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - Ideologies: Socialism: Revolutionary Socialism

Modes of Integration, Multiculturalism and National Identities

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 4, 9 Feb 2021

Lecturer: Prof Tariq Modood, University of Bristol

This lecture from Prof Tariq Modood, University of Bristol, provides an account of multiculturalism directly from one of the named ‘key thinkers’ for the course. More broadly this could be of interest to all students considering political thought beyond their optional ideology. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Multiculturalism

Political Economy and the Environment: with specific reference to the Caribbean

Colonial Global Economy – Lecture 5, 27 Apr 2021

Lecturer: Dr Keston Perry - University of the West of England

This lecture from Dr Keston Perry, University of the West of England provides a detailed case study of the impact of the global capitalist economy on the Caribbean - both economically and environmentally. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 - Global Economic Governance
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 - Global Environmental Governance: Responsibilities of the Global North
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Ecologism

‘Global Britain’ and the coloniality of British citizenship

Migration, Borders, Diaspora – Lecture 5, 4 Mar 2022

Lecturer: Prof Michaela Benson

This lecture from Prof Michaela Benson, provides a critical view of what the rights of UK citizens have actually been in practice. Benson takes as a case study the status of the people of Hong Kong - who shifted from subjects, to citizens, to aliens and more recently ‘Good migrants’ for ‘Global Britain’. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - UK Politics: Debates over Rights
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - UK Politics: Party Policy and Ideologies
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Multiculturalism

The Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair

British Citizenship, Race, and Rights – Lecture 7, 12 Oct 2020

Lecturer: Prof John Holmwood, University of Nottingham

This lecture from Prof John Holmwood, University of Nottingham, provides students with an in-depth look at one of the most consequential political controversies of the last decade. In particular students could use this as a case study of debates over rights in the UK or to explore different models of multiculturalism. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - UK Politics: Debates over Rights
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 1 - UK Politics: Party Policy and Ideologies
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Multiculturalism

Political Ecology: Reflections from the Global South

The Environment and Climate Change – Lecture 8, 8 Mar 2023

Lecturer: Prof Mitul Baruah

This lecture from Prof Mitul Baruah, provides a brief explanation of the concept of ‘political ecology’ and it development through Michael Watts’ (1983) groundbreaking work on the Sahelian drought, Piers Blaikie’s (1985) work on soil erosion in Nepal, and Blaikie and Brookfield’s (1987) seminal work on land degradation. . This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 3 Global Politics - Global Environmental and Economic Governance
  • Edexcel Politics A Level Component 2 - Ideologies: Ecologism

Geography

Deep Poverty

The Politics of Inequality – Lecture 1, 27 Jul 2022

Lecturer: Dr Daniel Edmiston

This lecture from Dr Daniel Edmiston provides a detailed look at recent developments in poverty in the UK and how to effectively measure these. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel Component 3: Geographical Investigations: Fieldwork and UK Challenges - Section C: UK challenges
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment - Geographical Skills
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 01 Living in the UK today - People of the UK
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02) - UK in the 21st century

Rethinking Diaspora

Migration, Borders, Diaspora – Lecture 2, 11 Jan 2022

Lecturer: Dr Ipek Demir

This lecture from Dr Ipek Demir, provides a way for students to understand diaspora and migration within a colonial context. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 2: The Human Environment
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 01 Living in the UK today: People of the UK and 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire

The Environment and Climate Change – Lecture 2, 16 Jun 2022

Lecturer: Dr Max Haiven

This lecture from Dr Max Haiven provides a detailed look at Palm Oil as a case study in understanding the connections between capitalism, colonialism and environmental disaster. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 1: The Physical Environment: Section C: Ecosystems, biodiversity and management
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Exploring the Growth of Charitable Food Aid in the UK

The Politics of Inequality – Lecture 2, 25 Aug 2022

Lecturer: Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite

This lecture from Dr Kayleigh Garthwaite provides a detailed look at the growth in food banks in the UK since 2013 - using both her own ethnographic work in the UK and comparisons with the US and Canada.. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel Component 3: Geographical Investigations: Fieldwork and UK Challenges - Section C: UK challenges
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment - Geographical Skills
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 01 Living in the UK today - People of the UK
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02) - UK in the 21st century

Family, Intimacy & Migration

Migration, Borders, Diaspora – Lecture 3, 24 Jan 2022

Lecturer: Dr Joe Turner

This lecture from Dr Joe Turner provides an insight into the consequences of borders upon human relationships, love and families. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 2: The Human Environment
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 01 Living in the UK today: People of the UK and 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Extractivism and Social Movements

The Environment and Climate Change – Lecture 3, 25 Apr 2022

Lecturer: Dr Andrea Sempértegui

This lecture from Dr Andrea Sempértegui provides an explanation of ‘extractivism’ and a detailed look at resistance to it in Latin America. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 1: The Physical Environment: Section C: Ecosystems, biodiversity and management
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment - 3.2.3 The challenge of resource management
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Modern Migration Theory: The Macroeconomics of Sweden's Refugee Reception

Migration, Borders, Diaspora – Lecture 4, 2 Feb 2022

Lecturer: Prof Peo Hansen

This lecture from Prof Peo Hansen provides a critical look at the assumed trade-off between refugee migration and the fiscal sustainability of the welfare state in the Global North. Specifically Hansen provides the case study of Sweden. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 2: The Human Environment
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Plastics and Toxic Colonialism

The Environment and Climate Change – Lecture 4, 16 Jun 2022

Lecturer: Prof Alice Mah

This lecture from Prof Alice Mah provides a deeper look at plastic pollution and the colonial processes associated with it. In particular Mah explores the concept of ‘toxic colonialism’ to ask why, despite heightened public awareness in recent years, the problem continues to worsen. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 1: The Physical Environment: Section C: Ecosystems, biodiversity and management
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Food Shortages: Causes and Policy Implications

The Environment and Climate Change – Lecture 5, 1 Sep 2022

Lecturer: Prof Pritam Singh

This lecture from Prof Pritam Singh provides a detailed look at food shortages and suggests new strategies for governments, households and individuals.This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - 2: The Human Environment: Section C: Resource management
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02) - Resource Reliance
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues

Draining Value, Drowning Labour

Colonial Global Economy – Lecture 7, 19 May 2021

Lecturer: Dr Lucia Pradella

This lecture from Dr Lucia Pradella, provides students with a new way to look at the ‘migrant crisis’ and border systems in Europe that foreground the colonial context and capitalism system. This could help stretch students studying the following:

  • A Level Geography Edexcel - Component 2: The Human Environment
  • A Level Geography AQA - Paper 2: Challenges in the human environment
  • A Level Geography OCR A - 01 Living in the UK today: People of the UK and 02 The world around us: People of the planet
  • A Level Geography OCR B - People and society (02)
  • A Level WJEC - Unit 2: Environmental and Development Issues