Bertrand Taithe

Prof Bertrand Taithe is a Professor of Cultural History in the Department of History at the University of Manchester. He is a founding member and former executive director of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI). His research focuses on humanitarianism, the history of medicine, French colonial history, and cultural history. Taithe holds editorial roles for the European Review of History and co-edits book series such as Cultural History of Modern War and Humanitarianism Key Debates.

Education: Studied in Montpellier and the Sorbonne, later completing his PhD at the University of Manchester. He held a Wellcome postdoctoral fellowship and lectured at the University of Huddersfield before returning to Manchester in 2000.

Research interests include humanitarian aid practices, colonial missions in French West Africa, and the history of medicine in conflict zones. He leads projects on humanitarian handicrafts and healthcare in crises, collaborating with organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières.

Key contributions include co-founding HCRI, editing the Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, and publishing monographs on humanitarian history. His upcoming book The Humanitarians: A Cultural History examines humanitarian practices and technologies over time.

Advising and grants: Supervised over 30 PhD students on topics ranging from humanitarian aid to colonial history. Current projects include studies on refugee education and Soviet humanitarianism. His work addresses SDGs related to global health and sustainable development.

Labs/Teams: HCRI fosters interdisciplinary research on humanitarian response, combining academic and practitioner perspectives. Taithe’s collaborations include exhibitions on humanitarianism and data ethics in aid research.