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Thought Leadership

Is Facebook's 'metaverse' a version of Robert Nozick's experience machine?

Dr Peter West, from our Department of Philosophy, considers the risks of Mark Zuckerberg's metaverse.
Code Projected Over Woman

Creating safer night-time economies

Kimberley Hill, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Northampton, and Graham Towl, Professor of Forensic Psychology here at Durham University, argue that we must work together to change the culture.
glass of strong alcohol with ice

Young Nazis: how I uncovered the close ties between British private schools and Hitler’s Germany

Dr Helen Roche, Associate Professor in Modern European Cultural History in our Department of History, looks back on how Nazi Germany’s elite schools used British public schools as 'models' during the 1930s, cultivating connections with them through a series of student and staff exchanges.
Nazi Germany’s elite schools used British public schools as ‘model’

Should we be “worried about” teenage pregnancies?

Dr Kimberly Jamie, from our Department of Sociology, explores Redcar and Cleveland Council's recent performance report by its Director of Children and Families Services and considers whether we should be worried about teenage pregnancy in the North East.
Young woman with pregnancy test in hands

COP26: how the world’s militaries hide their huge carbon emissions

Dr Oliver Belcher from our School of Government and International Affairs, Doug Weir (Research and Policy Director at the Conflict and Environment Observatory and Visiting Research Fellow at King's College London) and Dr Benjamin Neimark (Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University) explore the immense contribution militaries around the world are making to the climate crisis.
US C-17 aircraft

Proposed new law criminalising cyberflashing is welcome – but has one major flaw

The proposals are an important first step but introduce hurdles that will make prosecutions extremely challenging, says Professor Clare McGlynn from Durham Law School.
Person scrolling on mobile phone

Collaboration, innovation and sustainability: creating Durham’s Energy Systems Management Programme

Dr Joanna Berry, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship, talks about working with Boeing, and the development of an exciting new Masters programme to equip students with the skills to accelerate the transition to a Net Zero world.
A green leaf in soil against an industrial background

Sudan coup: years of instability have made the army key power brokers

Professor Justin Willis, from our Department of History, looks back on Sudan's history in light of the recent military coup against Sudanese civilian political leaders.
Brown wooden map featuring libya, egypt, sudan, ethiopia, somalia, saudi arabia

Tracing the history of offshore cyclones

Dr Ed Pope, from our Department of Geography, has been appointed as a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Independent Research Fellow. Here, he explores his research, which will focus on understanding the offshore record of tropical cyclones.
A headshot of Dr Ed Pope, with an aerial shot of a typhoon

How archaeology is shining a light on our understanding of the emergence of identity in England

Earlier this year Professor Sarah Semple, Head of our Department of Archaeology, was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 series 'This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England', which explores four great Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England and traces of their legacy today. Here, Sarah tells us how she got involved in the programme, how it links to the work of the Archaeology department and what Archaeology can tell us about the history of the North East of England.
Image showing site of archaeological dig

Sarah Everard, police culture and the ‘masculinised’ workplaces we can all help change

Professor Nicole Westmarland, Dr Stephen Burrell and Honorary Fellow Sandy Ruxton, from our Department of Sociology, address misogyny in our society and the role of organisations in preventing men’s violence against women.
Male police officer standing in quiet street

Why Shari'a law might be better suited for state-building in Somalia than external ideas

Professor Justin Willis, from our Department of History, comments on Shari'a law in Somalia and, in particular, Shari’a, Insha’allah which was recently published by Professor Mark Fathi Massoud from the University of California.
Aerial view to Hargeisa, biggest city of Somaliland, Somalia