George Allan

Profile

I am a current PhD student in the School of English, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through the White Rose College of the Arts & Humanities (WRoCAH). I joined the University of Leeds in 2020 as an undergradute in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, before moving to the School of English in 2023 to undertake my masters in Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies. I started my PhD in the School in 2025.

My PhD project looks at Black speculative fiction texts inspired by animist cultures in Africa and the African diaspora. Animism – the understanding of physical objects as embodying spirits within the natural world – has in recent times been reinterpreted as a complex ecological praxis that offers an alternative to the predations of global capital. My work aims to connect animist notions of enchantment with the Marxist utopian interest in spirit, suggesting that speculative fictions provide a means of imagining such ideals in the face of economic and environmental crisis. My research is interdisciplinary and draws upon fields ranging from postcolonial studies, science fiction studies, environmental humanities and critical theory.

For the academic year 2025/2026, I am one of the co-directors of Quilting Points, a student-led critical reading group which operates across several schools.

Research interests

My research interests include:

• African studies
• Postcolonial studies
• Animism(s) and posthumanism
• Speculative fiction
• Environmental humanities
• Critical theory

Qualifications

• MA Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds (2024)
• BA Classical Civilisation, University of Leeds (2023)