New Generation Thinkers: Turning big ideas into great programmes

31 May 2016

With subjects as diverse and wonderful as the making of 18th Century make-up, how the British Empire changed our beer, and how the Victorians viewed widows, the New Generation Thinkers scheme has brought some fascinating academic research to wider public attention. As the latest crop of talented lecturers and researchers are announced for 2016, watch the endeavours from last year in a series of enlightening short films.

From left; Joe Moshenska, Sandeep Parmar, Daniel Lee, Clare Walker-Gore, Catherine Fletcher, Nadine Muller, Kylie Murray, Sam Goodman, Danielle Thom, Peter Mackay.

Since 2011, the New Generation Thinkers scheme has been aiming to discover the brightest academics in the UK with the potential to communicate their ideas to a wider audience.

Jointly run by the BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the scheme receives hundreds of applications every year from early-career academic researchers and, after a series of workshops, ten are selected.

The New Generation Thinkers of 2015 have written and presented essays at BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival and some have gone on to contribute to other programmes.

The academics have also been working with BBC Arts to make short films on their chosen subjects which you can watch below.

Archive for a Daughter

Sandeep Parmar reads her poem Archive for a Daughter, inspired by her family’s migration from India to Derby and then on to California.
The Toilette: Make-up in the 18th Century

Danielle Thom transforms herself into a C18th century lady using the make-up of the period.
Kilts in the Trenches

Peter Mackay dons a kilt to relive his grandfather’s experience in the trenches of WW1 and reveals how soldiers adapted the garment.
The Renaissance Prince

Catherine Fletcher tells the life story of Alessandro de’ Medici, the Black Prince of Florence.
Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh

Clare Walker-Gore tells the remarkable story of the C19th Irish MP Arthur MacMurrough Kavanagh who was born with no hands or feet.
Inside a 17th Century Cookbook

Joe Moshenska recreates the first Chinese recipe to be published in England in the cookbook of Sir Kenelm Digby.
Women in Weeds: The Victorian Widow

Nadine Muller explores the status of widows in Victorian society via their dress and representations of them in popular song.
Empire of excess

Sam Goodman explores the influence of the Empire on beer production in Britain and the effects of alcohol on the lives of ex-pats.