Alison Wood

Academic Director, Homerton Changemakers

Dr Alison Wood is founding Academic Director of Homerton Changemakers, a co-curricular, pioneering programme equipping Cambridge students to be wise change-agents amidst complexity and challenge. The programme focuses on global citizenship; leadership; enterprise; self-hood; narratives of changemaking; adaptive mindsets; & regenerative thinking in the era of climate crisis and geo-political instability.

Alison also teaches and writes on the philosophy of education; the history and future of Universities; the future educated self; and the deep questions of what universities are really for. Her work combines two decades of experience building cross-sector and cross-disciplinary research initiatives (from healthy ageing to nineteenth-century studies and research leadership) with a research career in the history of intellectual institutions and changemaking. She’s also worked in 7 different disciplines, including medicine; spent 10 years working as a musician; and is what might be called a serial intrapreneur.

Before joining Homerton Alison was the Mellon/Newton Interdisciplinary Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at CRASSH (Centre for Research in Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) at Cambridge (2013-2018); and a Research Associate in the Faculties of English and Divinity, also at Cambridge (2011-2013). She read English and History at the University of Adelaide and worked as a musician before undertaking doctoral work in nineteenth-century intellectual culture (King's College London).

At Cambridge she’s served as a member of the University's Researcher Development Committee, the Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Working Group on Postdoctoral Affairs, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) Research Careers and Training Advisory Group; co-convened the CRASSH Postdoctoral Forum (2014-17); established and led the CRASSH ‘Becoming a Research Leader’ Programme (2014-2018); and taught in Divinity and English. She also works regularly with the University's School of Arts and Humanities, the Careers Service,  the Centre for Teaching and Learning, and the Researcher Development Programme. And currently supervises undergraduates for the Faculty of Education.