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Thought Leadership

Britain’s new Faith Museum is the ideal place to set aside your preconceptions about religion

Professor Alec Ryrie from our Department of Theology and Religion visits the new Faith Museum in Bishop Auckland and explains how it provides a rare opportunity to set aside preconceptions about religion and faith.
Church window

Himalayan communities are under siege from landslides – and climate change is worsening the crisis

Postdoctoral research associate Ellen Beatrice Robson from our Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience has co-written on how climate change and human activity is worsening landslides in the Indian Himalayas.
Himalayan mountains

Concerns over pet food and vet costs affordability are as old as pet keeping itself

Professor Julie-Marie Strange from our Department of History and Professor Jane Hamlett from the University of London explore concerns over the cost of keeping pets in the UK.
Guinea pigs eating

The book that haunts me – seven experts on the scariest thing they’ve ever read

A truly scary story never really leaves you. It lurks in long evening shadows, calls out through mysterious bumps in the night and blows down your neck whenever you feel a sudden shiver. With Halloween approaching, The Conversation asked six academic experts, including PhD candidate Lucy Atkinson from our Department of English Studies, to tell us about the scariest book they’ve ever read...
A man in a jacket sits under a tree in the dark reading a book, with a light illuminating his face

Revitalising ancient water systems for future resilience within the Kathmandu Valley

Professor Robin Coningham and Dr Christopher Davis from our Department of Archaeology explain why sustainable access to water is so important and how Durham is helping.
One of Patan’s many brick-lined tanks (hiti), providing water to communities of the Kathmandu Valley

Young Minds Big Maths: combining expertise from mathematicians and early years educators

Dr Rachel Oughton from our department of Mathematical Sciences has been working with early years educators to expand the reach of maths among children. Here she talks about the Young Minds Big Maths project that she is leading.
children in school

Rosebank shows the UK’s offshore oil regulator no longer serves the public good

Professor Gavin Bridge from our Department of Geography is joined by Gisa Weszkalnys, Associate Professor of Anthropology at London School of Economics and Political Science, to give their thoughts on the announcement of the new Rosebank oil field 80 miles west of Shetland.
An image of an oil rig in the sea.

Consciousness: why a leading theory has been branded ‘pseudoscience’

Dr Philip Goff from our Department of Philosophy breaks down the divide between consciousness researchers after one of the most popular scientific theories of consciousness is labelled as pseudoscience.
An abstract image of consciousness.

Henry VIII’s favourite fool – a new book draws a portrait of the man the Tudor court loved to laugh at

Professor Alec Ryrie from our Department of Theology and Religion explores a new book written by Swedish historian Peter Andersson on the life of court fool Will Somers during the reign of Henry VIII.
Henry VIII

Respectful provocation: the university skill for our times?

Challenging students about their assumptions and values makes them better equipped to engage with the challenges of living in a diverse society, writes Professor Mathew Guest, Professor of the Sociology of Religion and Head of our Department of Theology and Religion.
Six young adults sitting round a desk chatting, smiling and laughing. In the background are shelves of books

“Senzenina: What have we done?” We are all entangled in the politics of peace

On International Day of Peace, 21 September, Professor Stefanie Kappler from our School of Government and International Affairs reflects on the politics of peace in relation to art and, in particular, the work of South African artist and activist Haroon Gunn-Salie.
An image of the Marikana mine, South Africa

Should you send your child to an academy or a council-run school? Why Ofsted results don’t mean much

Should you send your child to an academy or a council-run school? Stephen Gorard, Professor of Education and Public Policy, in our School of Education, explains why Ofsted results are not that useful to parents when making this decision.
Primary school children in a classroom