Dr Sophia Price is the Head of Politics and International Relations at Leeds Beckett University. She's also a Reader in the Political Economy of Global Development, a Leverhulme Research Fellow and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg. 

Tell us a bit about you, your background and what led you to work at Leeds Beckett.

I’ve been working at Leeds Beckett for 15 years, and have been the Head of Politics and International Relations for the last 8 years. I studied Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Salford and then studied for my Masters in European Politics and Policymaking at the University of Manchester. I was awarded funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) to study my PhD at the University of Manchester and it was there that I began my career in teaching. I then worked for the Open University for a few years and before joining Leeds Beckett as a Senior Lecturer in Economics. I then moved into Politics and International Relations in 2012, and have been there ever since. 

What makes you passionate about your work and why is it important? 

My research and teaching both focus on inequality – between different parts of the world and between different groups of people. I’m passionate about helping to throw a light on those inequalities, and to understand the structures of power that create, embed and reproduce them. This is important because by developing our knowledge and understanding about inequalities we can challenge and overcome them. 

What achievements have you been most proud of while working at Leeds Beckett? 

There are many things I’m proud of. First and foremost are the students that have studied with us, not only in terms of their academic development and achievements but also the work that they’ve gone on to do after they’ve graduated. Related to that I’m really proud of the work our students do with external organizations as part of the Active Citizenship module – contributing to communities here in Leeds, nationally and also across the world, engaging with politics in a variety of forms and trying to change the world. That’s what politics is all about. I’m also very proud of the PIR team, who show a real commitment to our students as well as doing ground-breaking and important research, and that we an inclusive and increasingly diverse staff group. This is particularly the case in relation to the representation of women in the group. Politics as a discipline tends to be male dominated, but in PIR at LBU we have worked to redress that imbalance. 

What advice would you give to anyone considering studying Politics and International Relations at Leeds Beckett?  

Politics and International Relations is a vibrant and ever-changing area of study – which makes it both exciting to study and challenging at times. Everyone’s lives shape and are shaped by Politics and International Relations. It’s not possible to separate ourselves from the politics of our everyday lives nor from global politics - from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to what we learn at school, to the work we do, to the music we listen to,  to the things we see on social media, to our security, life-spans and economic wellbeing, to who gets to speak on our behalf, to the air that we breathe, to...everything. It’s vital then that we not only study politics and international relations to help us understand the world around us, but also so that we can change it for the better. My advice then is to be a change-maker – the world needs you!