Dr Benjamin Newman

Professional biography

I joined the OU as a Lecturer in Geography in December 2019. Prior to this I was a postgraduate research student and visiting member of staff in the Geography Department at Royal Holloway, University of London. I also worked in a professional capacity for the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) and the Academy of Social Sciences. I was awarded a BA Geography, MA Cultural Geography (Research), and my PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London (2010–2019).

Research interests

I am a historical and cultural geographer interested in the geographies of knowledge and communication. In addition, I have a developing interest in pedagogic research, more specifically I am eager to reflect upon student’s professional development and skills-based learning outcomes.

To date, my research has attempted to uncover more nuanced histories of geography’s nineteenth-century development by attending to the discipline’s publications and institutions. Through an AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral award (supported by the Royal Geographical Society w. IBG), my work has taken seriously the scholarly periodical’s role in the production and dissemination of British Geography. In doing so, it has demonstrated how cultures of periodical publishing were central in shaping the discipline under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society.  

You can read publications arising from this research here: 

Newman, Benjamin. “Authorising geographical knowledge and the development of peer review in The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1830–c.1880”, Journal of Historical Geography 64 (2019): 85–97.

Keighren, Innes M. and Benjamin Newman. “Worlds into words—and back again.” In The SAGE Handbook of Historical Geography, edited by Mona Domosh, Mike Heffernan, and Charles W. J. Withers. London: SAGE. [Forthcoming]

Teaching interests

I enjoy teaching across all parts of the undergraduate and postgraduate geography curriculum, and I am the qualifcation lead for the BA in Geography. 

At present I am fortunate to be hevaily involved in teaching at level 1. Alongside Colin Lorne, I co-lead the presentation of our flaghip geogrpahy teaching on D113 'Global Challenges'. I am also working with colleagues from acrosss the school of Social Sciences and Global Studies to produce a new interdisciplinary module: D112 'You and Your World'.