Dr Ben Davies will leverage his English expertise to highlight the importance of language and literature studies
Dr Ben Davies, an Associate Professor in Literature and Culture at the University of Portsmouth, has recently been named Chair of University English.
Dr Davies, who has been involved with the national body for over eight years, has been elected Chair for a three-year term.
His focus is to bring together English departments from across the country and showcase the importance of studying language and literature to both academia and society. This aligns with University English’s commitment to promote the discipline, encompassing literature, language, linguistics, and creative writing, both within the university sector and beyond.
Dr Davies from the School of Area Studies, Sociology, History, Politics and Literature, said:
“It’s a real honour to take on the role of Chair, especially at a time when Humanities often gets overshadowed by STEM subjects.
“I want to use this platform to really champion the value of English, not just in universities but in everyday life. English studies are central to how we think, communicate, and understand the world, and I’m keen to raise its profile and show just how vital it is to society.”
His appointment strengthens the University of Portsmouth’s reputation and ability to work collaboratively, embrace new perspectives, and pursue bold ideas in an environment that encourages and celebrates creativity, innovation, and success.
University English organises two key annual events: an OGM and a two-day conference and AGM, offering a platform for departmental representatives and heads of departments (HoDs) to collaborate, discuss, and tackle key issues in the field.
They also collaborate with various organisations, including the Institute of English Studies in London and the English Association, to strengthen their mission of uniting university lecturers, heads of English departments, researchers, and independent scholars. This partnership seeks to encourage conversation, tackle shared issues, and plan for the ongoing success of English studies.
Recently, the organisation launched #EnglishCreates, aimed at increasing the number of students reading English at University.
“University English serves as a way to bring together departments from across the country”, added Dr Davies.
“It’s a space for real discussion, progress, and advocacy. I’m genuinely excited to be working with them to keep pushing English forward – reminding people of its value not just in the classroom, but in shaping the way we see and engage with the world.”
Dr Davies most recently held the position of Secretary, but he began his journey in University English as an Early Careers Representative in 2016.
He has also held Visiting Fellowships at prestigious institutions like the University of Cambridge and has led funded research projects, including a study on the relationship between reading and time use in the modern university.
University of English is a non-profit membership organisation managed by an Executive Committee that meets multiple times a year to organise initiatives and events whilst collaborating with a number of other professional organisations.
About the University of Portsmouth
- The University of Portsmouth is a progressive and dynamic university with an outstanding reputation for innovative teaching, outstanding learning outcomes and globally significant research and innovation.
- Our 28,000-student population includes over 5,000 international and EU students from more than 150 countries. Our city centre campus is at the heart of a lively city by the sea, on England’s south coast.
- We were awarded the highest overall rating of Gold in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework, one of only 27 Gold rated universities in England and one of five Gold rated universities in the South East. We’re proud to be one of the UK’s top 50 universities (with a 5-star rating) in the QS World University Rankings and one of the top 10 Young Universities in the UK based on Times Higher Education Young University rankings.
- Our research and innovation impacts lives today and in the future. Researchers work closely with business, industry and the public sector to solve local, national and global challenges across science, technology, humanities, business and creative industries.
- Our world-class research is validated by our impressive Research Excellence Framework (REF) outcomes where Portsmouth was ranked third of all modern UK universities for research power in the Times Higher Education REF rankings.
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