First-year Sociology student impresses leading figures at the British Sociological Association
By: Eleanor Griggs
Last updated: Thursday, 28 June 2018
Charlie Back and John Solomos
Charlie Back and Kimberlé Crenshaw
A first year Sociology student has been making a name for himself outside of the seminar room at a series of events organised by the British Sociological Association (BSA).
Charlie Back, who started at Sussex in September, volunteered at the BSA Conference in Manchester in 2017, where he met Chief Executive Judith Mudd and Public Engagement Officer Steph Rich.
The pair kept in touch with Charlie after their initial introduction and later invited him to help organise and contribute to their new Youth Conference, which ran for the first time in February 2018.
Charlie delivered an hour-long talk at the event, which was held at the Great North Museum in Newcastle, to over 100 sixth form students about his favourite sociological interest – the ethnography of hip hop and crime culture.
As a reward for his help with the Youth Conference, Charlie was given a free ticket to the BSA Conference at the University of Northumbria earlier this month, for which his tutors at Sussex permitted his absence from classes.
Speaking after the Conference, Charlie said: “My time at the BSA has been really rewarding and interesting, and I’ve made a lot of friends.
“While I was there I went to all the academic dinners with the chairs and trustees. It was a massive step up from the life I’ve become accustomed to living at East Slope!”
Charlie explained that his new contacts at the BSA suggested he write something for the Sociological Review Blog, talking about his experience of being an ‘undercover’ undergraduate student in an environment full of esteemed academics.
He adds: “I had loads of professors like Kimberlé Crenshaw (UCLA), Gregor McLennan (University of Bristol) and John Solomos (University of Warwick) coming up to me asking, ‘So, what are you doing your PhD on?’
“It was funny to watch their reaction of disbelief when I told them I was a first year undergrad.”
Since the Conference, Charlie has also been in contact with Nick Fox from the University of Sheffield, who would like Charlie to be part of the BSA’s initiative to implement a new ‘applied sociology’ curriculum, which celebrates interdisciplinary and public sociology.
Well done Charlie, and keep up the good work!