School of Social Sciences events
Events taking place in our school.
International Women’s Day 2025: Celebrating Women’s Contributions Across SoSS
Through global movements at the start of the 20th century, women claimed rights to vote, to work, to equal rights, and more. Over time, big battles were won. Research across our disciplines shows there is some way to go, in particular for vulnerable women, facing economic challenges, criminalisation, alienation, violence, oppression, and abuse. SoSS is well-placed to keep these issues to the fore and IWD is an opportunity to consider where our contributions are best made.
IWD is a celebration too. The School of Social Sciences highlighted some of the ways women in SoSS advance female participation, and flourishing, in particular through initiatives that challenge disadvantages with a long heritage, within academia and beyond.
Congratulations to those mentioned below, and thank-you to all the women in SoSS.
- Politics & IR International Women's Day Roundtable
This Roundtable introduced critical reflections regarding the role of women in leadership roles in the early years of European integration, the dynamics of populist radical right parties on gender and sexualities and the symbolic role of the first two women High Representatives for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in projecting the EU’s external identity as a gender equality actor.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following Politics and International Relations academics for their valuable participation:
Dr. Laura Chappell
And a special thank you to Dr. Nathalie Weidhase who chaired this important event.
- Celebrating Dr Maria Adams Work on Women's Prisons
Dr. Maria Adams has been doing incredible work focused on the role of food in women's prisons.
Maria's work is not just about research—it’s about making a real difference. This International Women’s Day, we celebrated Dr. Maria Adams for the important work she’s doing to elevate women’s voices and push for change in how we think about and treat incarcerated women.
- Successful contributions to the Discover Economics Student Champions initiative
We celebrated the work of Prof. Jo Blanden, who initiated the Discovering Economics project, and Dr. Irem Bozbay, who continues to lead this important work today. Their dedication to increasing diversity within the field of economics is paving the way for a more inclusive and equitable future.
The Royal Economics Society’s Discovering Economics initiative is designed to increase diversity among UK UGs in the subject. Economics has recently been shown to be the least socio-economically diverse of all the UG subjects and we have a low (and unshifting) share of female students at around 25%. The discipline is therefore making a concerted effort to make changes, motivated in part by the high labour market returns to economics and the important role played by economists as decision makers in the public and private sectors. The Discovering Economics student champion programme trains UG Econ students to deliver sessions in schools to year 10s on topics such as the cost-of-living crisis, the gender pay gap, panic buying and economic growth, improving pupils understanding of what economics is. This is beneficial for our current students (previous student champions have been targeted by recruiters such as the GES) as well as boosting Surrey’s visibility among prospective students and improving EDI (a key element of the next REF as well as Athena Swan).
- Success at Surrey Law School's Annual Athena Swan Lecture 2025
Surrey Law School was proud to host pupil barrister and former graduate, Lucy Barnes as the guest speaker for our second annual Athena Swan Lecture on 27th February 2025. Lucy's speech "Addressing an "invisible inequality - The case for care experience as a civil rights movement" presented a moving and insightful look on the lived experience of care experienced persons and the strands of discrimination they face throughout their lives due to their contact with the care system. Lucy presented a compelling argument on how the law can evolve to offer anti-discrimination protection to care experienced persons and identified emerging case law which could further the movement.
We want to extend our deepest thanks to the incredible individuals who made the annual Athena Swan Lecture a reality. A special thank you to Dr. Vickie Thanapal, Dr. Nicola Giglio, and Thekli Anastasiou for their tireless efforts in organising such a meaningful and impactful event. Their dedication to fostering inclusivity and advocacy for marginalised communities is truly inspiring.
- Highlighting Prof. Ranjana Das: Celebrating Her Work on Parenting in the Digital Age
This International Women’s Day, we celebrated the incredible achievements of Prof. Ranjana Das, whose pioneering work in understanding the intersection of family life, digital technologies, and datafication continues to reshape the field of social sciences. Her latest book, Parents Talking Algorithms: Navigating Datafication and Family Life in Digital Societies (2024), offers a timely and critical exploration of how parents engage with algorithms daily, transforming their parenting practices in an increasingly data-driven world.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with parents across England, Ranjana examines how families make sense of datafication, develop digital literacies, and exercise agency in algorithm-driven environments. The book highlights evolving parental perspectives, aspirations for their children’s digital futures, and the complexities of navigating platform power, urging a deeper, more sustained examination of datafication’s impact on family life.
Ranjana's work continues to challenge and enrich our understanding of the digital world’s influence on families, empowering individuals to better navigate the complexities of living in a data-driven society. We are proud to celebrate her groundbreaking contributions to the field on this International Women’s Day.
- Recognising the Contributions of Prof. Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco, and Dr. Marie Newhouse
The Collective: Women in Legal Philosophy is an inclusive and supportive platform for the exchange of knowledge and the fostering of imaginative ideas and critical thinking in legal philosophy. It aims to create the best possible intellectual environment for the flourishing of women's scholarship in legal theory and the philosophy of law through conferences, work-in-progress seminars, and a mentoring system.
As its founders, and part of the executive committee, Veronica and Marie are key figures in advancing the role of women in legal philosophy. Their work with The Collective: Women in Legal Philosophy aims to elevate female voices by creating a platform for women to discuss and contribute to legal theory. Fostering an inclusive space for female legal scholarship and mentorship for the next generation of legal philosophers.