Event Capture

Society & Culture Spotlight PGR and ECR Writing Competition 2025

On 23^rd June, the Society and Culture Spotlight, in collaboration with the PGR/ECR network, ran an event to mark the Spotlight’s achievements over the 2024-25 academic year and to celebrate the winners of this year’s Writing Competition.

The event provided a valuable opportunity to reflect upon the Spotlight’s work so far this year and to hear about the exciting initiatives being developed by the PGR/ECR network, led by Eloisa Ocando-Thomas, Meifang Zhuo and Naomi Williams.

In the morning, we ran workshop sessions exploring important questions regarding interdisciplinary research and the role of the university in the 21^st century. These discussions plenty of thought, including some very interesting ideas for future research in these spaces.

We also heard from early career researchers, Geoff Lewis and Wendy Ramku, about the important work that they have been doing to support the development of the Society and Culture Methods Lab, working in collaboration with colleagues from CIM and the Health Spotlight.

The event culminated in the announcement of the writing competition winners. These were:

1^st Prize – Matthew Randell (WMS) – “A Screened Society”
2^nd Prize – Aishah Ibrahim (WMS) – “Dear Aiden: Letters to My Third Culture Kid”
Runner Up – Joseph Price (History) – “Students and Sexual Health Activism in Late 20^th Century England”
Runner Up - Louisa Toxvaerd Munch (English and Comparative Studies) – “Stranger in Paradise: Class, Academia, and Cultural Whiplash”

Congratulations to all of our winners and to everyone who submitted a piece. The standard of writing was exceptionally high, and we were so pleased to see the Society and Culture theme interpreted through so many diverse and engaging approaches.

All writing competition submissions are available to read here: