Polly Withers

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College: College of Social Sciences and International Studies
Discipline: Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
Department: Middle East Politics
Research Centre/Unit: Gender Studies

I gained my BA (First Class Hons) in International Relations from the University of Exeter, in 2009; and my MA in Gender Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS, University of London), in 2011. This was funded by the SOAS Masters Award (equivalent to the AHRC Research Preparation Award). I completed a further MRes (Distinction) in Middle East Studies at the University of Exeter, in 2012; funded by the ESRC 1+3 Studentship Award.

My PhD research is funded by the +3 part of this award from the ESRC. Broadly speaking, it explores the politics of cultural production, & vice versa, the cultural dimensions of politics, in musical processes and performances, in the Palestinian context. I am using an explicitly gendered lens to approach these themes.