About us
Vision
Led by world-class researchers across the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) communities, the Societies and Cultures Institute (SCI) tackles issues of immediate global concern through challenge-based interdisciplinary research. SCI collaborates with academic and non-academic partners across the HASS and the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) disciplines to lead innovative, multi-faceted programmes of research, education and knowledge exchange.
Our aims
To encourage and enable innovation in HASS-based research by building a community for cross-disciplinary collaboration, for the cultivation of cutting-edge methodologies and for co-creation with the STEMM research community.
We will:
- Provide Development Funding to Exeter’s HASS academics to build partnerships, gather data and test ideas to form competitive research proposals.
- Offer affiliation to Exeter externally funded Research Fellows, to promote their work and provide additional support to deliver their objectives around external partnership and knowledge exchange.
- Support research development in the following areas:
• Social equality, diversity and justice in policy and practise
• Digital Society
• Global South
• Plant Humanities - Provide targeted support for complex HASS applications preparing for strategic priority or cross-council calls.
To enhance the external visibility of Exeter HASS-based research and to extend its applications and impact in a cross-section of non-academic contexts: arts & culture; public policy; business & industry; third sector.
We will:
- Identify, prioritise and build external partnerships through sand pit events and focused relationship building communication.
- Convene externally-facing HASS Futures Festivals, to serve as showcase for Exeter HASS-based research innovation.
To contribute to the development of a HASS-based postgraduate environment and experience that is innovative and interdisciplinary, enabling knowledge and skill acquisition that are of demonstrable public and professional value.
Who we are
The Societies and Cultures Institute is made up of the Institute Management Board, which includes the Institute Director, Institute Manager and three Assistant Directors. Click the portraits below to view each member of staff.
Professor James Clark
Institute Director
James Clark is a Professor of History with a particular interest in the period between the Black Death and the Break with Rome. He was Associate Dean for Research before becoming Director of SCI, a position which he held for 8 years.
Professor Amina Yaqin
Assistant Director of Research
Amina Yaqin (English and Creative Writing, HASS) is a world leading interdisciplinary scholar whose work engages with contemporary contexts of Muslim life as well as the politics of culture in Pakistan. Her publications have shaped critical debate across five overlapping fields, gender, questions of agency for women across social divides, postcolonial theory, Muslim Studies, Urdu literary culture.
Jill Nurse
Assistant Director of Partnerships
Jill Nurse is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Exeter Business School (UEBS). She has over 10 years of experience in academia, including posts at Surrey Business School and the London School of Economics & Political Studies. Prior to working in academia, Jill has also spent twenty years working in industry in Business to Business, Consumer & Services Marketing
Professor Crawford Winlove
Assistant Director of HASS-STEMM Collaboration
Crawford Winlove is an Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, with a general interest in how neural processes give rise to human behaviour. Most recently, Crawford’s work has focused on Imagination – our capacity for sensory-like experiences in the absence of corresponding external stimuli.
Crawford is the Director of the Neuroscience programme at the University of Exeter, having played a central role in every aspect of its design and development.
Suzannah Laver
Institute Manager
Suzannah Laver works as a Research Development Manager in the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy (ESE) as well as SCI's Institute Manager.
She is currently on maternity leave.
Kevin Sales
Interim Institute Manager
Kevin Sales works as the Cluster Lead for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Cluster within Research Services. He is also currently on secondment as SCI's Institute Manager.
Harvey Everard
Senior Administrator
Harvey Everard works as SCI's Senior Administrator, directly supporting the Institute Manager and working with the Institute Management Board.
He is a University of Exeter graduate, having studied History as an undergraduate and Classics and Ancient History as a master's student.
