Charlie Oubridge

Charlie began his studies at University of Birmingham, where he studied his BA in Ancient History with a focus on ancient Egypt and Western Asia. 

In recognition of his academic achievements, Charlie received the Sonnenschein Prize (2018), the Donald Dudley Memorial Travel Award (2019) and the Helen Waterhouse Prize (2020). After graduating with First Class Honours, he shifted disciplines to study an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies with Intensive Arabic at SOAS, University of London, for which he earned a Distinction. 

In his dissertation, he combined the new approaches he encountered at SOAS with his interest in Egyptology to answer the question: ‘How has the assumption of ancient Egyptian nationhood within Egyptology arisen and what is its impact?’ Remaining at SOAS, he continues to pursue related questions in his PhD studies through the application of postcolonial theory in an analysis of Egyptological discourse. By closely examining representations of ancient Egypt as a nation, he challenges assumptions embedded within this discourse that have produced the ancient Egypt and Egyptians we are familiar with today. 

Through his work, Charlie aims to contribute to the decolonisation of Egyptological and archaeological knowledge production and seeks out new ways of working which tackle Eurocentric and colonial biases within the field. In addition to research for his thesis, he is currently Vice-President of SOAS’s Research Students’ Association and sits on the university’s Senate and the Research Ethics Panel. Through these roles, he works with academic and support staff to improve the experience of research students and foster collaboration within the university community.

• Egyptology
• Assyriology
• Archaeology
• Museology
• Nationalism
• Postcolonial Theory
• Minoritisation and Majoritisation