St Cross Fellows Awarded Professorships in Sociology and Political Anthropology

St Cross Fellows Professor Michael Biggs and Professor Tom Scott-Smith

St Cross College is delighted to announce that two of its distinguished Fellows have been awarded titles of Professor in the University of Oxford’s recent Recognition of Distinction awards.  

Prof Michael Biggs has been appointed Professor of Sociology in recognition of his pioneering work in political sociology and social movements. Dr Biggs, who has served as Associate Professor in Sociology and Department Disability Lead, has focused his research on the dynamics of collective action, including iconic events such as the U.S. eight-hour strikes of 1886 and Southern sit-ins of the 1960s. He also explores the challenging subject of self-inflicted suffering as a form of protest. His inventive methodological work—ranging from event data collection to spatial analysis—has included investigations into right-wing extremism and religious violence. Recently, Dr Biggs was also highly commended in the University’s Social Sciences Impact Awards for influencing census design and improving data quality on transgender populations.  

Prof Tom Scott-Smith has been appointed Professor of Political Anthropology. Currently Associate Professor of Refugee Studies and Forced Migration and Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, Dr Scott-Smith brings a rich programme of research to his new title. His ethnographic and historical work interrogates humanitarianism’s impact on refugee lives. His publications include On an Empty Stomach: Two Hundred Years of Hunger Relief, which won the Association for the Study of Food and Society book award, and Fragments of Home: Refugee Housing and the Politics of Shelter (2024). After earning his MPhil and DPhil at Oxford, Dr Scott-Smith went on to hold posts at the University of Bristol and Lincoln College, Oxford, before taking on his current academic leadership roles.  

Please join us in congratulating Professor Biggs and Professor Scott-Smith on these well-deserved accolades and look forward to their continued contributions to sociology and anthropology.