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E. James West is a Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Societies and Cultures at UCL. His research focuses on the Black Press and African American urban history. More broadly, he is interested in race, rights, and media across the Black diaspora. In tandem with his role at UCL, West is co-director of the Black Press Research Collective, based at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
He is the author of three books, including the multi-award winning A House for the Struggle: The Black Press and the Built Environment in Chicago, which was published in 2022 by the University of Illinois Press. Alongside Kim Gallon he is co-editor of the book series "New Directions in Black Press Studies" with Johns Hopkins University Press.
West has published articles and essays in leading academic journals, including African American Review, The Black Scholar, the Journal of African American History, and the Journal of American Studies. He has also contributed essays, public commentary and expert opinion for a range of popular media outlets, including the BBC, Columbia Journalism Review, New York Times, Nieman Reports, NPR, Slate Magazine and the Washington Post.
West’s commitment to the interdisciplinary nature of the BASc programme is rooted in his eclectic research interests; stretching across the fields of history, journalism, media studies, architecture, and urban studies. It is also informed by his experiences as a student and educator - he completed a year of a Zoology BSc before switching to a Combined Honours undergraduate programme and completed a masters thesis on humanitarian crisis and sexual violence in the Liberian Civil War before returning to American cultural history at PhD level - and has taught interdisciplinary modules and Liberal Arts curriculum in both Britain and the United States.
Teaching
James is module co-convenor for BASC0002 Interdisciplinary Research Methods.
