An IASH Work-in-Progress seminar, delivered by Dr Divya Kannan (IASH-CWIT Fellow, 2026)
Child Welfare in Nehruvian India: Between Nation-Building and International Humanitarianism
Fellows at the Festivals
We are thrilled to announce that many current and former Fellows and friends of IASH will grace the stages of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and International Book Festival in 2026. With a diverse array of offerings, including theatre, film, music, poetry, storytelling, readings and talks, there's an abundance of experiences awaiting festivalgoers. Don’t miss out!
Prophets by Jack MacGregor
Assembly Roxy | 5-31 August | 17:45-18:45
An IASH Work-in-Progress seminar, delivered by Dr Paula Sledzinska (Visiting Research Fellow 2026):
Playing Radical? National Theatre of Scotland, Literary Scholarship and Civic Engagement
The Institute is proud to announce the Fellowship cohort for academic year 2026-27. From more than twenty countries, the Fellows will work with mentors and collaborators across all of the Schools within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and beyond. They range from recent PhD graduates to eminent senior scholars, but are united by IASH's core mission of interdisciplinary working.
IASH seeks to support the career development of new staff at the University of Edinburgh and those on fixed term contracts, in order to contribute to the aims of Strategy 2030, namely to help promote a diverse, and inclusive research culture, and to provide better education and training for exceptional early career researchers. IASH is one of the most diverse units within the University, welcoming scholars from across the globe. Offering the opportunity for early-career university staff to build networks with our Fellows (and vice versa) will also help seed longer-term international resea
A new interview with 2026 IASH-Traverse Creative Fellow, Jack MacGregor:
Part of this play came about from a frustration with sporting narratives. I wanted to get past the surface motivations of athletes we may be used to hearing (doing it for country, community, money) and instead make a character study of obsession, what it means to give your whole life to something like a niche sport, at the expense of everything else, and for it to still not be good enough. You’re not good enough, that you’ll never be good enough, and what that realisation does to someone...
Dr Gillian Dooley and Laura Klein present a programme of songs and piano music drawn from Jane Austen’s own sheet music collection, including French, Scottish, and Irish music, and some songs that Austen’s niece Caroline remembers her singing in the last years of her life.
A reading of a new play by Jack MacGregor. Having worked with the Traverse and The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh since the beginning of 2026, Jack’s new play about two fencers who come from very different worlds explores truth, obsession, and the fine line between ambition and self-destruction.
Did you know that in the 17th century, Scotland tried to establish a colonial project in Panama? Hear acclaimed crime novelist Val McDermid and Geographer Royal for Scotland Jo Sharp chat with Allan Little about their fictional retelling of this surprising story from our country’s history. This Door of the Seas, framed through letters home, reveals Scotland’s colonial ambitions and how they ultimately failed, bankrupting the nation and setting Scotland on a path towards union with England.
A guest blog by Dr Emrah Atasoy: