Dr Tessa Altman PhD, MA
ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow
- Related links
- Personal homepage
Tess Altman is an ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow within the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership, based in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton.
Tess conducts research on humanitarianism for and with migrants in hostile policy climates. Her recently completed PhD in Anthropology at UCL, titled “The domestic humanitarian: Responsible neighbours, fairness and ambivalence in urban Australia”, examined the political and moral subjectivities of volunteers supporting people seeking asylum in Australia as well as the gendered and racialised dimensions of humanitarianism.
Over the course of her Fellowship, Tess will be leading her own research project “Humanitarianism against hostility: Volunteer hospitality in Australia and Europe”, with the support of Professors David Owen and Jack Corbett. The project extends the findings of her PhD into academic publications including a monograph tentatively titled “Humanitarians next door”. She will also be comparatively applying her research insights through engagement with the UK Sanctuary movement.
Tess advocates for collaborative methods and pedagogical tools. Most recently, she has been involved with hosting performance ethnography workshops and has helped establish a new fieldwork curriculum for PhD students (at UCL Anthropology).
Tess also has experience working in government as a senior policy officer on multiculturalism and social cohesion, in NGOs and peak bodies such as the Red Cross and Volunteering Australia, and as a research consultant for NGOs.
Academic Qualifications
PhD in Anthropology, University College London (2019)
MA in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, University of Leiden (2012)
Honours in Social Anthropology, University of Auckland (2009)
Bachelor of Arts, Australian National University (2007)