Archive for category Around the world
New Honorary Degrees
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world, Former staff, Uncategorized on August 19, 2015
Two former Essex people were awarded Honorary Degrees at this year’s Graduation Ceremonies
Paul Thompson is a world pioneering oral historian and was a founder appointment in the sociology department in September 1964. He has been associated with the department for the past fifty years!
Paul Thompson gaining an Honorary Degree at Essex in July 2015
Andrew Mack was an early Sociology/ Government student at Essex. He helped revolutionise the field of peace research, making important contributions to the work of the United Nations and working at leading universities around the world.
He is currently Director of the Human Security Report Project at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a faculty member of the university’s new School for International Studies. Prior to this he directed the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia. Before this, Professor Mack was a Visiting Professor at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University.
Professor Andrew Mack is an Essex alumnus who helped revolutionise the field of peace research, making important contributions to the work of the United Nations and working at leading universities around the world.School for International Studies. Prior to this he directed the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia. Before this, Professor Mack was a Visiting Professor at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University.
Andrew Mack gaining his Honorary Degree at Essex in July 2015
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Damian WHITE (1995-2000): 101 on the roll call.
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world, Books on November 24, 2014
Damian WHITE (PhD 1995-2000). Taught Sociology at East London and Goldsmiths after Essex. Then headed off to the USA.
5 years at James Madison University in Virginia. Now in New England, Associate Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of HIstory, Philosophy and Social Science at the Rhode Island School of Design.
He is the 101 entry on the ROLL CALL. Thanks Damian!
The next entry will be the 100th entry on the Blog will it come from you?
A Note:
Damian White is a sociologist and political theorist with interests in urban and environmental sociology, historical sociology, political sociology, urban political ecology, critical theory, science and technology studies, the sociology of the future and the sociology of design and architecture. He has a BA (First Class) in Political Science and American Studies from the University of Keele, an M.Sc in Political Sociology and Political Theory from Birkbeck College, University of London and a Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Essex. He is the winner of the Edna Schaffer Humanist Award (2008) and the John.R.Frazier Award (2012) for excellence in teaching.
Damian has published three books to date: Bookchin – A Critical Appraisal (Pluto Press, UK/University of Michigan Press USA 2008), Technonatures: Environments, Technologies, Spaces and Places in the Twenty-First Century (Wilfred Laurier Press, 2009) and Autonomy, Solidarity, Possibility: The Colin Ward Reader (AK Press, 2011).
Katsuhiro Harada
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Around the world, Former staff on September 17, 2014
Congratulations to the 50th Anniversary of the Sociology Department of the ESSEX UNIVERSITY!!!!
Knowing about this marvellous celebration, I have called my nostalgic memories,with deep gratitude,of those days staying from 1983 to1984 in the Department where I had many chance to enjoy happy,friendly relations with you and your faculty members.
I really hope the Sociology Department has more brilliant future in the next 50th years.
I have already retired from the University, and now I am mainly writing onthe family life story of my maternal historical lineage which go back in the17century(Edo feudal age)when the ancestor was a head of a fisherman’sCo-operative.
I am always walking nearby around, sometimes flying a kite on the seashore, and not in bad health at present.
50th anniversary book
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world, Books, Former staff, History on August 28, 2014
Imaginations: fifty years of Essex Sociology
edited by Ken Plummer
An exciting new publication to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sociology Department at the University of Essex
The Sociology Department at the University of Essex is a leading international sociology department. Through fifty contributions from past and present, the students and lecturers in the department tell the story of its history, its ideas and its community. It provides an unusual insight into the workings of a British university department as well as the shape of modern British sociology.
You will treasure this book, not only if you worked or studied at Essex, but also if you care deeply about sociology and its future. For those who experienced Essex, it will touch on special memories. But it will also show how much more was going on there than you ever realised at the time. This multidimensional book portrays the amazingly sustained creativity of sociology over a whole range of different directions. That’s why it is much more than history: it also demonstrates the potential of sociology for the future. Paul Thompson An invaluable record of an extraordinary intellectual and educational institution, chronicling the heady years of its genesis and fruition. The volume teems with memories, anecdotes and reflections on this history from a proud assembly of those at the heart of its achievements. Rob Stones
Imaginations: fifty years of Essex Sociology
will be published by Wivenbooks in September 2014.
Copies can be ordered from The Wivenhoe Bookshop, The University Bookshop or direct from Ken Plummer at plumkessex@gmail.com. It will also (eventually) be available on Amazon.
Publication price: £25 ISBN: 9780957085046; 208pp, 50 contributors.
The book will be officially published and launched at the Essex 50th anniversary weekend scheduled for 12-14th September at the University.
The launch will take place at the Sociology Gathering and lunch between 12.30 and 2.30 in The Tony Rich Centre
You can find more details of this on: https://www.essex.ac.uk/fifty/
Claudia Robles (2004-2010, PhD)
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world on August 28, 2014
I first came to Essex in 2004 to pursue a MA in Sociology of Development and ended completing my PhD in Sociology in 2010. I chose to pursue my postgraduate studies at Essex’s Department of Sociology due to its past and present, its commitment to social change and equal opportunities for all and the excellence of its work.
Life in Essex, and Colchester in particular, confronted me in many ways with preconceived ideas of development and was often a challenging experience. Intercultural exchange was a significant gain of this period, as well as affections that will endure for life. In professional terms, Essex marked me deeply. Writing and research skills, ethnography, econometrics, political economy, development, were all tools I gained and that prepared me to perform in diverse platforms, including the academia, international organizations and politics.
In 2009, I joined the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and since 2012, I have worked as a social policy specialist for UNICEF El Salvador. Writing background documents for policy-making might seem distant from traditional sociological practice. However, I see sociology as immanent in these tasks imprinting a perspective to approach social reality, an eager interest for seeking explanations, not conforming to facts in the surface.
I think of the future of sociology from a land where this is uncertain. After enduring 12 years of civil war in the recent past, today it has become a post-conflict society and a low middle-income country. Yet, 5800 children and adolescents were killed by gang activity in El Salvador between 2008 and 2012. 50% of children and adolescents live in monetary poverty. Most of them will only occasionally relate to the state, mostly through public education that they will likely abandon at the age of 14 or by receiving a cash transfer that will partly alleviate their more acute needs. In such a context, citizenship and any form of social cohesion finds several obstacle to develop, becoming a matter of policy attention.
For periods, sociology was banned in the country. Today, while researchers are scarce, society has few observers and remains rather blind to understand how social ties have deteriorated to such a point. The national and international academia says little in probably one of the most interesting countries to do sociology in the world.
Yet, I never imagined the importance of sociological thinking until I came to this country. With few tools to examine society, there are few hints to start improving things from the deep. Such a change goes beyond institutional or policy transformations; it requires citizenry wanting to live or act together, convinced that this is still worthy. Digging into people’s motivations, drives, collective frustrations, fears and dreams might provide a starting point to build a new future.
Do I think there is a future for sociology in 50 years? I certainly do, as long as we decide that social forms of organization are still necessary. Bear in mind that this is not granted. Do I think it is relevant? More than ever, as I have witnessed its capacity to lead change in people’s everyday lives. What do I expect from sociological practice in the future? I envisage an academia interacting with other actors beyond its physical and symbolic walls; I see sociologists submerged in different arenas, hunger for understanding, conducting organized practices to uncover factors explaining social facts, empowered by their research’s impacts, humble before the immensity of the never ending task.
This is an entry from the book: Imaginations- 50 Years of Essex Sociology.
Damien Short (1998- 2004, PhD)
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world on August 22, 2014
I joined the University of Essex in 1998 to study for a multidisciplinary Masters in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights. When it came to the end of year dissertation, my appointed supervisor was Jane Hindley from the Department of Sociology. Our meetings together were the first sustained exposure I had to a ‘sociological imagination’. It was an introduction to a way of thinking that has stayed with me ever since. In moving on to doctoral study in the same department, I sought to combine sociological method with my newly acquired knowledge of human rights. At the time there was very little academic literature available in this area on which to draw. The dearth of sociological engagement with human rights at the time was reflected by a regular slot for my work in the ‘Open Stream’ at the annual British Sociological Association (BSA) conference. After a few years of presenting to an audience of between one and three people in these Open Streams, a few colleagues and I, including Michele Lamb from Essex Sociology, decided to convene a new BSA study group on the ‘sociology of rights’. From these humble beginnings in the world of frustrated PhD studies, the study group membership quickly swelled and once doctoral studies were behind us we began editing journal Special Issues and books in the sub-field and now have a designated stream in the BSA annual conference. Our group has done much to further the engagement of sociological research with the broad field of human rights study, but despite the breadth of our collections’ coverage there are still many important areas that lack the consistent coverage afforded by other disciplines. Indeed, the topics of minority rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, genocide studies, anti-colonialism, activist human rights scholarship and climate change and human rights are particular areas in need of more consistent sociological engagement.
I would hope that in the future sociology can mirror anthropology and have a debate about activist scholarship and the role of sociologists in both research on human rights and research for human rights. I also hope that sociology openly engages with the implications of climate science and makes telling contributions to discussions about the ‘limits to growth’ and the ‘de-growth’ movement, the threat to our environmental human rights and the rights of local communities in the face of the growth of ‘extreme energy’ processes such as ‘fracking’ for shale gas, and Alberta’s Tar Sands in Canada. The latter two topics have occupied me for the last few years, but while so far I have worked primarily with anthropologists and scientists I always draw on the ‘sociological imagination’ I developed at the University of Essex’s Department of Sociology.
This is an entry from the book: Imaginations- 50 Years of Essex Sociology.
Motohiro Kawashima (1997- 2004, MA, PhD)
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world on August 18, 2014
I came from Japan to the Department of Sociology at Essex University in 1997 to do MA in Sociology of Culture. After one year interval (during which I took another master in Social Anthropology in London), I came back because I didn’t find a better place than Essex to be a postgraduate student. I finished my PhD under the supervision of Colin and Ted in 2004 (my research topic was the cultural aspects of whales and whaling), but stayed one more year as a teaching assistant and course tutor. I enjoyed my days at Essex so much — full of readings, lively discussions and delightful gatherings in and outside the Department.
I went back to Japan for job hunting in 2005. After engaging in some research projects on a part-time basis, I was employed as a lecturer by Kobe International University in 2007. The following year, I have moved to Gunma University, where I currently teach such subjects as mass communication theories, contemporary culture, journalism and ENGLISH (I’m not joking) in the Faculty of Social and Information Studies. I also work on some research topics on environmentalism, focusing on human-animal relations.
Japanese universities have been idyllic places for both students and staff in the past, but things have changed dramatically after the British-style certification system was introduced in the early 2000s. Accountability and competition are now the buzzwords. In the name of efficiency, university executives have pursued the concentration of power and they now keep a firm grip on management, especially personnel and educational matters, which were traditionally controlled by the faculty staff in a democratic way. Many of the staff members are stressed out because of overwork and pressure, although universities are still relatively in a better situation than other workplaces.
There is no denying that dehumanization of society is progress in some respects, and there seems to be little hope that we can turn back the situation in the near future. Nonetheless, there are also some positive changes in the world, at least when it comes to the abolition of institutionalized discrimination. It is clear that discrimination against minority groups is not tolerated in contemporary society. Racism and sexism are, for example, outlawed in many parts of the world. If human history is a struggle to expand our moral horizons, we have undoubtedly made a great progress in so far as humans are concerned. I think the next target we should focus on is the alleviation of our exploitation of animals. Speciesism, i.e. arbitrary discrimination on the basis of species, is arguably the last forms of discrimination. In the early 2000s when I was studying human-animal relations, my topic seemed to be taken less seriously than other topics such as gender, ethnicity, globalization and cultural identity by my sociology friends. But things have gradually been changing. We are now creating a society where animals are admitted to have some moral standing, and the study of human-animal relations is accepted as a serious sociological inquiry. Animal are important to us, because, all things considered, the controversy surrounding animals is about what we are and how we define our society.
This is an entry from the book: Imaginations- 50 Years of Essex Sociology.
27 more names for the Roll Call
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world on June 26, 2014
Sian MOORE (2010) is Professor of Work and Employment Relations at the University of West England
Bethany MORGAN (1999-2011 BA, MA, PhD ) worked in the data Archive at Essex, taught in the sociology department and is now Senior Lecturer in sociology at the University of East London.
Rhiannon MORGAN (PhD, 2004) is Senior Lecturer in Political Sociology, Oxford Brookes University, UK
Professor Ronaldo MUNCK (-1977 Ph D) (Argentinian by birth) held the first post-apartheid Chair in Sociology at the University of Durban in South Africa after a number of years at the University of Ulster. He was Professor of Political Sociology and Director of the Globalisation and Social Exclusion Unit (1996-2004) and then Professor at Dublin City University since 2004.
Karim MURJI (1980-83) is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the Open University
Danzan NARANTUYA is in the Department of Sociology, National University of Mongolia, Mongolia
Daniel NEHRING (2002-8, BA, MA, PHD) is Lecturer in Sociology, Pusan National University, South Korea.
Howard NEWBY(BA, PhD 1969-1968) is Vice Chancellor of the University of Liverpool.
Tom OBINYAN was last sighted at at the University of Lagos
Karen O’REILLY (1989-1999 BA. PhD. ISER) is Professor of Sociology at Loughborough University
Nigel PARTON (1977,MA) became Professor in Child Care and the Foundation NSPCC Chair of Applied Childhood Studies at Huddersfield University
Constantinos PHELLAS (1994-8, PhD) went to South Bank University and is now Rector for Research at the University of Nicosia. Cyprus
Steve PLATT(1967-70, BA) is Professor of Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh
Lucinda PLATT (taught 2000-7) moved to ISER in 2007 and later became Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Education and Director of the Millennium Cohort Study….
John PODGORSKI (2000-2003, BA) gained a MSc in Passenger Transport Management via a joint CILT/Aston University (distance learning) programme in 2011 and currently employed as a training Manager cum bus driver at Hedingham Omnibuses – part of Go Ahead Group PLC. also a self-employed tutor in Business (to degree level), Sociology (to A level) and English (GCSE) He is also a committee member of Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT UK) for the Eastern Region and Chair of South Essex sub-group
Jennie POPAY (1996-7, MA) is Professor of Sociology and Public Health at the University of Lancaster, and Director of the newly established Collaborating Centre for Community Engagement in England. She spent five years teaching in East Africa and then studied in New Zealand before beginning her research career at the Unit for the Study of Health Policy at Guy’s Hospital in London at the end of the 1970s.
Garry POTTER (1985-200, Ph D, Tutor) became Associate Professor of Sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada Nicole POWER is Associate Professor of Sociology at Memorial University, St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Anthony PRYCE (1998, PhD) is Emeritus Professor in the School of Community & Health Sciences City University
Maurice PUNCH (1965-1966, MA, Ph.D 1971, 1971-4 Lecturer) and has worked in universities in the UK, USA and The Netherlands – where he has lived since 1975. After 20 years in Dutch universities he became an independent researcher / consultant in 1994 and in 1999 was appointed Visiting Professor at the Mannheim Centre at LSE: he is also Visiting Professor at King’s College London in the Dickson Poon School of Law.
Wapula Nelly RADITLOANENG (1989, MA) is an Associate Professor at the University of Botswana Nirmal PUWAR (1994-7, Research) is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmith’s College, London
Dave REASON graduated with a degree in Sociology (having intended to specialise in Theoretical Physics), and moved to the University of Kent where he is Master of Keynes College and Senior Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies in the History & Philosophy of Art.
Penny RICKMAN (80’s) became a Probation Officer.
Andrew RIGBY (????) is Professor at the Center for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at the University of Coventry.
Michael RILEY enjoys a “rewarding career as a Professional Chef with extensive management experience in the restaurant, catering, hotel, resort and film catering industries, including his own business ventures.” “My ongoing passion for cooking and the hospitality industry continues, as I explore new opportunities to advance my commitment to culinary excellence”. Last was Executive Chef at Painted Boat Resort, Canada.
Chrissie ROGERS (1995-2004, BA, MA, PhD) went on to lecture at Keele and Brunel before moving to Anglia Ruskin as a director of PhD research and the Childhood and Youth Research Institute. In 2012, she joined Aston Sociology as a Senior Lecturer in Sociology.
Heather ROLFE (1985-7, Research Officer) is Principal Research Fellow National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)
Mike ROPER (MA, PhD) is now a Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex
David ROWE (1978-81, PhD 1986)was for many years at The University of Newcastle in New South Wales. In 2006 he moved to the University of Western Sydney (UWS), where he is currently a Professor of Cultural Research in the Institute for Culture and Society.
Andreas Pöllmann (2004,MA;2008,PhD)
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world on April 14, 2014
I owe it to the central library of Montpellier’s Université Paul Valéry and some unknown marketing people at Essex that one late afternoon, during a coffee break, I found this prospectus about postgraduate studies at the University of Essex. In hindsight, I’m ashamed of my ignorance, but this really was the first time I’ve heard of this institution of Higher Education on the island close to Europe. Anyway, I recall that, when getting to the pages about the Department of Sociology and the Department of Government, I was struck by an almost instant sensation that the overall study experience – and particularly staff student relations – would be so much more inspiring and engaging there than in any of the places I had studied before. I didn’t change my mind even if (or perhaps because) I used to pass by the statue of Auguste Comte when walking home from the Université to the 16th century inner city flat that I was living in back then. Even the fact that in the Montpellier of that time (autumn 2000 to summer 2001), ordinary public cinemas used to screen productions like “La sociologie est un sport de combat” – a documentary dedicated to Pierre Bourdieu – could not convince me of staying on the continent.
As much as I never got to develop a strong affection for Britain’s oldest recorded town (apart from some notable, geographically quickly locatable, exceptions), I did instantly fall in love with the University and the nearby village of Wivenhoe. I often miss the open, diverse, and friendly atmosphere at the university’s main campus and, above all, the wonderful people I had the good fortune to meet during my time there. It is no exaggeration to say that I spent some of the happiest years of my life at the University of Essex. In particular, I owe a lot to teachers and fellow students from the Sociology Department and am deeply grateful for their companionship and (in many cases) lasting friendship. One of these friendships led to a marriage, two children, and me/us living in Mexico City.
Whatever one may think about causalities … and common indicators of graduate student satisfaction (let alone the obsessive measuring of it) … one can hardly deny this University’s charm. I am now working at another great university – the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) – with particular research interests in the field of intercultural teacher education and the notion of intercultural capital.
The following link leads to some further and regularly updated information on my research and publications: http://unam.academia.edu/AndreasPöllmann
Rie Debabrata: M.A Social and Economic Development (1998), Ph.D. Sociology (2002)
Posted by stories of essex sociology in Alumni, Around the world on March 1, 2014
I would like to thank Ken Plummer for inviting me to share my memories of Essex. I was Ken’s Teaching Assistant in 1998-1999 and 2000-2001, and to say that I was completely blown away by the vitality and incredible lucidity of his lectures – would be such an understatement. Listening to him (SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology) made me wish that I had learned from him as an undergraduate.
Besides Ken, some of the inspiring professors that I had the privilege to study and interact with, both during my Masters, and later PhD, were — Miriam Glucksmann (my PhD supervisor), Ted Benton, Lydia Morris (PhD examiner), Pam Cox, Jane Hindley, to name a few.
I came to Essex in 1997 to pursue a MA in Social and Economic Development (an inter-disciplinary course between the Departments of Sociology and Economics), which I understand is no longer offered. I had graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economic (Honours) from the University of Delhi, India, but had chosen to pursue the inter-disciplinary course at Essex mainly because I had always been fascinated by Sociology (knew very little about it, though). It was also because at the end of my 3-year bachelor’s degree, I could not visualize myself pursuing a career in Economics. I had found it to be very econometric-centred, something that did not sit well with me. I was interested in Development Economics – or as my late-grandfather used to put it – the kind of economics that Amartya Sen (a fellow-Bengali and an acquaintance of my grandfather’s) teaches. The fact that Essex offered a course that combined both Development Economics and Sociology seemed like a win-win.
The academic environment at Essex was so vibrant – there we so many lectures, seminars and colloquiums to attend, constantly expanding one’s intellectual horizons. Up until then, I had mainly studied within the Indian academic system (except for a brief stint at the University of California, Berkeley, where I took a course on Women’s Studies). The Indian educational system places a premium on learning by rote (it still does, although changes are afoot), and I do not recall being encouraged or trained to critique the material in any way. Lectures were often a one-sided affair, with students memorizing the lectures/notes and readings, and there was very little space for genuine debate or reflection. Learning by rote was something that I was quite good at during my school years, but I simply could not sustain that by the time I entered University for my undergraduate degree. So much of what I was studying either did not make sense to me, or seemed at odds with my politics – and yet there was no avenue for expressing that. As a result, I retreated and did not engage with the material or attempt to genuinely learn from it. By the time I had arrived at Essex, therefore, I was craving an interactive and intellectually stimulating environment. And my, did Essex deliver!
Even though I was new to Sociology, I did not feel like an outsider for too long. I encountered a department full of professors, administrators (Brenda Corti, Helen Hannick, Diane Allison, Mary Girling, Sue Aylott) and peers that were unfailingly warm, accommodating and engaging. As a result, I developed some wonderful friendships, some of which continue till today, despite the distance.
Some snapshots from my time at Essex:
– Introductory conference for new students, followed by a welcome dinner at Wivenhoe’s Tandoori Hut: a first glimpse into a fiercely talented and charmingly quirky community that was going to be home for the next, almost 4 years.
– Lecture by George Ritzer on ‘McDonaldization’: a very engaging discourse on a fascinating concept, which was followed by Ted Benton’s equally incisive query along the lines of “where/how does class fit into all of this?” It confirmed Ted’s status as one of my intellectual heroes!
– Fuller Scholarship: I was grinning like a Cheshire cat (for what felt like days) when I received news of having been awarded the scholarship. This ensured that I would stay on at Essex for my PhD. I can still recall Tony Woodiwiss’ (then HOD) warm smile as he informed me of the Department’s decision and congratulated me.
– Mentorship and guidance: I was never more convinced that I had chosen the right PhD supervisor in Miriam, than when I would receive very pragmatic and consistently supportive messages from her while in the midst of my field research – this was a challenging year spent travelling to remote villages and towns in India. Miriam also did not hold back on her criticism, as she did when she quite bluntly warned me that I would not complete my PhD if I took a break during my third-year to commence a consultancy with the United Nations. While I was initially taken aback (Miriam later gleefully confided that she had overdone it a bit to ensure that I would listen!), it did force me to refocus my priorities and to persuade my future employers to wait until I had submitted my thesis.
– ‘Ruth Cavendish’: I have always been terribly impressed by the fact that Miriam, as the pseudonymous Ruth Cavendish, wrote “Women on the Assembly Line” – a groundbreaking ethnographic study. I recall having mentioned this several years later to my husband, Bernard (we were newly dating then), and even though he’s a political scientist, he knew of this study – needless to say, he scored big points.
Before arriving at Essex, I had worked with several civil society organisations and NGOs including the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (which provides micro-credit loans to rural women). I grew up within the ‘NGO-world’ in many ways, owing in a large part to my parents’ political and social activism in India.
After leaving Essex, I worked (very briefly) with the Asian Development Bank (posted in Manila, Philippines), and then with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where I have been since 2002. My work with UNDP has taken me to some exciting destinations – I was in Lao PDR for 2.5 years as the Assistant Country Director (I headed a team that worked on poverty eradication, HIV/AIDS prevention, gender empowerment, private sector development, and UNDP’s flagship ‘Human Development Report’). I also worked with UNDP’s regional programme on HIV/AIDS for South and Northeast Asia, specializing in anti-trafficking and migration issues. I have been posted in New York since 2006, where I am currently working as Donor Relations Adviser with UNDP’s External Relations Bureau. My team works on resource mobilization and maintaining partnerships with a variety of actors, including ‘donors’ to UNDP, such as the Nordic countries, Canada, UK, US, Australia, etc. A career with the UN certainly has its ups and downs. While it is hugely satisfying professionally, the pace of work and constant pressure to travel does take a toll on family life. Bernard and I have a young daughter and we find ourselves, as do many others, constantly trying to find that elusive work-life ‘balance’!
Looking back, I can quite confidently say that being at Essex was in so many ways a life-changing experience. I could not have asked for a better intellectual ‘home’. Even though I have not pursued an academic career since completing my PhD, the training that I have received here has held me in good stead!
Dr. Rie Debabrata Tamas
Donor Relations Adviser, Resources Partnerships Cluster, Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy,
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), One United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017
Photo: Miriam Glucksmann with Rie Debabrata Tamas (6 months pregnant!) and Bernard Debabrata Tamas in New York, October 2009
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'A landmark book' about the department
STORIESofESSEXSOCIOLOGY 