about us « Counterpoint

about us

Author: Counterpoint

Counterpoint is the think-tank of the British Council. Since our foundation in 2002 we have shaped and developed thinking on the future of cultural relations and on the role and nature of culture in a globalised age. We are particularly interested in how cultural relations can help us foster new forms of collaboration that are crucial to our collective capacity to face major international challenges from climate change to population flow, from extremist threats to energy crises. Our mission is to develop a research base to sustain efficient and effective practices of cultural relations and to help develop the policy tools and ideas that will help us live together well in an interdependent world.

We bring together thinkers, writers, journalists, policy makers and cultural relations practitioners from around the world to challenge orthodoxy and confront barriers to robust and equal dialogue within and between cultures. We offer consultancy, organise seminars and conferences. We also publish a significant number of books and articles both on and offline.

Navigating counterpoint-online

Explore our four themes: Social Planet, Radicalisms, Cultures, and Identities and the self. They reflect how we all share, occupy, move between, and sometimes fight over spaces, ideologies, norms, and ways of understanding ourselves. They focus on how cultural relations can help us navigate these spheres effectively and hospitably.

Browse listings of all of our projects, publications, and podcasts, drawn together from across our research.

Interested in working for Counterpoint? Check our vacancies here!

The British Council is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 209131) and in Scotland (No. SC037733) whose principal office is at 10 Spring Gardens, London SW1A 2BN.

The Team

Dr Catherine Fieschi, Director

Catherine Fieschi grew up in Senegal, Italy, France and the USA. After spending a number of years in Canada where she gained her PhD in Comparative Political Science from McGill University, she came to the UK in 1993. Catherine took up her post as Director of Counterpoint at the British Council in November 2008. Prior to joining Counterpoint, she was director of the London based think tank Demos (2005-2008). From 2001 to 2005 she lectured in Politics at the University of Nottingham and directed the Centre for the Study of European Governance. She is the author of In the Shadow of Democracy (MUP) and of numerous pamphlets and articles on extremism, citizenship and identity politics. Catherine is a contributing editor for Prospect Magazine, a Board member of the Quilliam Foundation and a Trustee of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) and of The New Deal of the Mind coalition and a regular contributor to radio and television debates.

catherine.fieschi[at]britishcouncil.org

Nick Wadham-Smith, Deputy Director

Nick Wadham-Smith helped found Counterpoint in 2002. His projects with Counterpoint include: Migrating Memories, a multimedia CD exploring movement and memory from the perspective of the arts, science, and psychotherapy; New National Identities, an international investigation about Britishness involving six countries and a book launched on 1 November 2007 (Who Cares About Britishness: a global view of the national idenity debate); and a publication about social change in Africa, Under the Tree of Talking: leadership for change in Africa, edited by Onyekachi Wambu. He has also co-edited British Studies: intercultural perspectives (Longman 2000) and was co-author, with Martin Rose, of Mutuality, Trust and Cultural Relations To relax, he enjoys swimming, cycling and a sport growing in popularity in the UK, Nordic Walking.

nick.wadham-smith[at]britishcouncil.org

Natalie Lepper, Communications and Project Manager

Natalie first joined the British Council in 2008 as an intern in Counterpoint, where she worked on a project researching cultural relations work in post-conflict areas, before taking on a permanent role in another part of the organisation. She is half Thai, half German, was born in Manila and lived in Jakarta and Bangkok. Natalie moved to the UK to read English and History in 2003. Having written her dissertation on the role of Shakespeare’s plays in the former German Democratic Republic, she decided to further pursue an interest in politics and the politicisation of culture at the University of Edinburgh, gaining an MSc in International and European Politics in 2007. In her free time, Natalie enjoys reading, playing volleyball, musical theatre and cooking for friends.

natalie.lepper[at]britishcouncil.org

Jonny Mundey, Digital Media Researcher

Jonny is working as the Digital Media Researcher at Counterpoint. He read history at Manchester, completing an MA in the cultural history of war there in 2009. His research interests have included high Stalinism and Hayden White’s philosophy of history. During his MA he focused on the visual culture of the United States’s “war on terror”, and the Nigeria-Biafra conflict. A budding documentary filmmaker, he has made films in Kenya and Detroit.

When not working he likes to make short films, write music, and get to the cinema as often as he can.

jonathan.mundey[at]britishcouncil.org

Nehal Panchamia, Researcher

Nehal is leading Counterpoint’s research on “Campus Radicalism”.

Nehal has a 1^st Class History degree from UCL. Prior to joining Counterpoint in January 2010, she interned at the think-tank Demos, where she contributed to a large-scale research project on Islamic extremism across Europe and Canada. Previously, she has also worked in Government and Public Sector advice at PwC, during which she had the opportunity to work in Senegal with US Peace Corps. Her academic interests include Middle East politics; identity and race politics; and international law.

In her spare time she learns Spanish, and enjoys travelling, reading and cooking.