West Virginia University faculty member Joseph Hodge was named the September Scholar of the Month by British Scholar (http://www.britishscholar.org/), an academic Web site devoted to British studies.

Hodge is an assistant professor in the Department of History in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at WVU . His current research builds on his previously published work by examining the careers of former British colonial officials who went on to work in international development and other related fields overseas. Specifically, it looks at the important role many of these men and women played in the growing institutionalization and globalization of colonial scientific knowledge and authority in the postwar epoch.

In addition, Hodge is involved in an interdisciplinary project with researchers who are exploring the relationship between livelihood and land use, both historically and today, in Malawi, Africa. The project was recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation.

I think it is important for scholars to break down academic barriers and compartments and to engage the ideas and perspectives of their colleagues in other disciplines,Hodge said.

British Scholar is a Web site run by the British Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin. It serves to link the various communities around the world that study the United Kingdom and to provide a resource for members of the general public who are interested in learning more about Britain.

Hodge has a doctorate in history from Queens College in Ontario. His article,Science, Development and Empire: The Colonial Advisory Council on Agricultural and Animal Health, 1929-1943,was published in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History in 2002. He also pennedTriumph of the Expert: Agrarian Doctrines of Development and the Legacies of British Colonialism.