Role
Professor of Literary and Cultural Studies
Research areas
Professor Williams is a member of the Communication, Cultural and Media Studies research group.
His research interests include postcolonial studies generally, including:
- Postcolonial theory (especially Edward Said and Frantz Fanon)
- Postcolonial cultural production (written – e.g. novel and poetry; visual – e.g. film, documentary, graphic art)
- Diaspora and migration studies (theory and cultural production)
- Race, representation and contemporary British culture
- National identity
- Utopian studies (theory and cultural production)
Research projects currently and previously supervised include: postcolonial theory and textuality; diasporic Cypriot identity in Britain; the political theatre of Athol Fugard; inter-generational use of the Internet in West Africa; postcolonial and diasporic fiction in Britain; inter-cultural identity formation in the UK. Opportunities to carry out postgraduate research towards an MPhil / PhD exist and further information may be obtained from the NTU Graduate School.
External activity
- Visiting professorships include: University of Paris; University of Leon; University of Padua; University of Trento; Charles University, Prague;University of Oviedo
- Journal editorial boards include: Theory, Culture and Society; Journal of Postcolonial Writing
- International assessor for professorial appointments at University of Kansas; Trinity College Dublin; University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (Durban)
- AHRC research grants in 2000 and 2005
- External examiner for fourteen PhDs
Sponsors and collaborators
International collaborators in connection with a series of research projects focusing on issues of post colonialism, diaspora and migration include:
- Professor Annalisa Oboe, University of Padua
- Professor Aurora Garcia Fernandez, University of Oviedo
- Professor Marta Sophia Lopez, University of Leon
- Professor Sabine Broeck, University of Bremen
Current and recent projects:
- Major project in relation to diaspora: Routledge Companion to Diaspora and Migration Studies, in conjunction with Professor John Noyes and Dr Alison Donnell. This involves contributions from 40 to 50 of the major scholars and thinkers in the fields of diaspora and migration.
- Major project in relation to post colonialism: book on Postcolonial Utopias, examining the variety of forms – political, spiritual, theoretical, cultural—in which the desire to transcend the limitations of colonialism were embodied.
Publications
Selected publications:
- No aesthetics outside my freedom: Mahmoud Darwish and late style. Williams P, Interventions, 2012, 14 (1), 24-36
- Sartre's 'morality and history': ethics for postcolonial times. Williams P, Experiences of Freedom in Postcolonial Literatures and Cultures, 2011, 205-19
- An act of confidence in the freedom of men: Jean-Paul Sartre and Ousmane Sembene. Williams P in Boulé JP and McCaffrey E (eds), Existentialism and Contemporary Cinema: A Sartrean Perspective, 2011, Berghahn Books
- Outlines of a better world. Williams P, in Wilson J, Sandru C and Lawson Welsh S (eds), Rerouting the Postcolonial, New Directions for the New Millennium, 2010, 86-99
- Return to the source: Cabral and Flora Gomes. Williams P in Oboe A (ed) Rethinking the Black Atlantic, 2007, Routledge.
For full list click 'Go to Patrick Williams publications' link above