Introducing New ICwS Fellows

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies is delighted to welcome three of our newest Fellows:

Dr Miranda Kaufmann, Senior Research Fellow

Miranda is the author of the Wolfson History Prize and Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize-shortlisted book Black Tudors: The Untold Story (2017). She read History at Christ Church, Oxford and is now an Honorary Fellow of the University of Liverpool, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Royal Society of Arts, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, where she co-convened the 'What's Happening in Black British History?' workshop series from 2014 to 2022. She served as Lead Historian for the Colonial Countryside project collaborating with National Trust houses from 2019 to 2021; and has taken her work into schools with her Teaching Black Tudors project and to the world with her Black Tudors: The Untold Story course with FutureLearn. Her second book, Heiresses: Marriage, Inheritance and Caribbean Slavery (2025), tells the stories of nine British women who inherited people and plantations in the Caribbean. 

Mr Kaeden Watts, Associate Research Fellow

Kaeden Watts is an Indigenous rights advocate and policy expert with extensive experience in climate change, health, human rights, and Indigenous sovereignty. Hailing from the Māori (Indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand) tribes of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Maniapoto, and Tūhoe, Kaeden has spent much of his career understanding how to progress the rights of Indigenous and Pacific peoples in domestic and international climate change responses. Kaeden has worked both at the grassroots level in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, focusing on integrating Indigenous knowledge into climate change responses, promoting environmental justice, and securing equitable health outcomes for Indigenous communities affected by climate crises. Kaeden currently serves as the climate change implementation lead at the New Zealand Ministry of Health, adapting the health system and developing public health interventions to address the impacts of climate change. 

Dr John Duncan, Associate Research Fellow

John Duncan is an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. He received his PhD from the School of Advanced Study and has taught at several institutions including London Metropolitan University, the University of the West of England, and the Centre for Alternative Technology. After working in welfare rights, he pursued his PhD research at the School of Advanced Study. His PhD research examined the role of human rights within radical UK-based social movements. John has been engaged in activism and extensive public facing engagement via YouTube alongside his academic career.