Dr. Ben Page
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About
University College London
26 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AP
Email: b.page@ucl.ac.uk
Telephone: 0207 679 5521
Room No: BW109
Biography
- 2009 to present, Reader in Human Geography and African Studies, University College London
- 2006-2011, Reviews Editor, African Affairs
- 2003 to 2009, Lecturer in Human Geography, University College London
- 2002-2003 ESRC Post-doctoral Fellow, Geography, University College London
- 2001-2002 College Lecturer St Peter's College, University of Oxford
- 2000-2001 College Lecturer St Hugh's College, University of Oxford
- 1996-2000 D Phil., St Antony's College, University of Oxford
- 1993-1994 M Sc., Silsoe College , Cranfield University
- 1990-1993 BA, Pembroke College University of Oxford
- Member of UCL Geography Department's Migration Research Unit
- Member of the Developing Areas Research Group of the RGS (DARG) , the Royal African Society and the University of London's Centre of African Studies (CAS)
Teaching
1st year undergraduate teaching
- Geog 1003 London Field class (convener)
2nd year undergraduate teaching
- Geog2001 Practice in Geography (convener Dr Simon Lewis)
- Geog2014 Development Geography (convenor Dr Charlotte Lemanski)
3rd year undergraduate teaching
- Geog 3018 Africa: Post-colonial perspectives (convener)
- Geog 3038 Water and Development in Africa (convener Dr Richard Taylor)
M.Sc. teaching
- GeogG021 Environmental governance and sustainable development (convenor)
- GeogG202 Issues in Global Migration (convenor Dr JoAnn McGregor)
Current Research
Documentary film and the history of Community Development
This project is based on archival work in Cameroon and the UK and focuses on the Oscar-winning film Daybreak at Udi ( http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/node/252) produced by the Crown Film Unit in Eastern Nigeria in 1949 alongside writings about colonial development in Eastern Nigeria and Cameroon from the same period. The film shows the story of the construction of a maternity home using communal labour and also various attempts of 'reactionary' African members of the community to frustrate the progress of 'civilization' by obstructing the project. The central figure in the film is the local British District Officer, Edward Rowland Chadwick who was a pioneer of community development and left an extensive written record of his ideas and experiences. The project seeks to contributed to the critical history of community development in Africa, but it also addresses development studies, where it seeks to assert the long and complex history of participatory development practice, which is often forgotton.
A house at home: domestic architecture and the African diaspora
One of the most common aspirations for many individuals in the new African diaspora is to construct a house in the place they came from in Africa. As a result spectacular buildings have sprung up in towns and villages across the continent. Existing research (mostly in Ghana and Nigeria) has explored this process, in terms of the impact on urban land prices and urban planning. This project (with Dr Claire Mercer (Geography, LSE) looks at different case studies (Cameroon and Tanzania) from a different perspective (the engagement between geography and architecture). These new houses are dramatically different (in terms of their style, size, and decor) from their neighbours and are a dramatic, visible and common sign of the impact of migration on the built environment. This project (1) analyses the form of these houses to better understand how migration is changing the built and social landscapes; and (2) uses the example of diaspora house-building to develop theory that better integrates social change in Africa into our understanding of the relationship between migration and development.
Development through the diaspora: hometown associations in Africa and Britain
Research Interests
My research interests are broadly located within the field of development geography, bringing together my interests in migration, development and the environment. My principal concern at the moment is exploring the role of the African diaspora in the UK in bringing development to Africa. I am particularly interested in the way African individuals, families and associations accommodate change in unexpected and innovative ways outside the development mainstream. I am also interested in the mutual imbrications of nature and society and the capacity of things (water, trees, soil) to provide a commentary on the interdependent relationship between environments, people and politics. Much of my early work has focused on water supply in West Africa , as a way of linking different histories and places to broader development questions about communities, the state, infrastructure, services, participatory governance, deliberative democracy and the transformation of the landscape.
- The relationship between migration and development
- Hometown Associations
- Geography and architecture
- The political ecology of water supply in West Africa
- African studies, in particular Nigeria and Cameroon
- Community Development in history and practice
Research Students
Completed
- Melanie Brickman (with Matthew Gandy) now working at the Institute on Science for Global Policy, USA
- Ben Lampert (with Khalid Koser) now Research Fellow at the Open University
- Valerie Viehoff (with Matthew Gandy) now at the University of East London
- Lauren Wagner (with Claire Dwyer) now at Wageningen University, Netherlands
- Magali Bonne-Moreau (with JoAnn McGregor) now at the International Labour Organization, Zurich
Current
- Gayle Munro (with Claire Dwyer)
- Hussein Samatar (with JoAnn McGregor)
- James Esson (with JoAnn McGregor)
- Kate Kingsford (with JoAnn McGregor)
- Jin-ho Chung (with Sam Randalls)
- Sainabou Taal (with JoAnn McGregor)
- Susana Neves Alves (with Jenny Robinson)
I always welcome applications from prospective PhD students, particularly those with interests in Migration and Development, African Studies, Environment and Development.
