Adam Ferron

Thesis title: Platform Authoritarianism: X under King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman

Biography

Background

Adam Ferron (they/them/any pronouns welcome) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Trained in political sociology, they completed the University’s MSc in Arabic Language before beginning their doctorate with an ESRC 2+3 studentship. Before joining Edinburgh, they served as Scholar-in-Residence at the Council for British Research in the Levant (Amman, Jordan). Adam holds an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies (Politics) from SOAS University of London and a BA (Hons) in Economic and Social Studies from the University of Manchester. They also have professional experience in research and policy roles within London local government and at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Qualifications

PhD in Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh, 2019–2025

Platform Authoritarianism: X under King Salman and Mohammed bin Salman.

MSc in Middle Eastern Studies with Arabic, University of Edinburgh, 2016–2018

ESRC 2+3 pathway (Language-Based Area Studies); Arabic language and research training.

MA in Near & Middle Eastern Studies, SOAS University of London, 2011–2013

Twitter Activism in Saudi Arabia; SOAS Training Grant (£2,000).

BA (Hons) in Economics & Social Sciences, University of Manchester, 2004–2007

Associate Fellow (AFHEA), Advance HE, 2024 (Fellowship PR306703)

Programming for Data (J4YB35), SCQF Level 8 (8 credits), 2023 — SQL and data methods

SQL Certificate, Codecademy, 2023 (ID BA307464-F)

Modern Standard Arabic, Qasid Arabic Institute, Amman, two intensive terms (~300 class hours), 2014–2016

Responsibilities & affiliations

Affiliate of Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI)

Affiliate of the Centre for Data Culture and Society (CDCS) 

Member of the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS)

Member of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES)

Member of Race.Ed

Member of Social Media Analysis and Support for Humanity (SMASH)

Member of Social Network Analysis in Scotland Group (SNAS)

Research summary

Adam's PhD examines the political use of  X, formerly known as Twitter, by religious actors in Saudi Arabia

Digital authoritarianism; political Islam; state-society relations

Project activity

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Previous grants held

  • University of Edinburgh — Student Experience Grant: Black History in the City walking tour (£400).

  • Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC): 2+3 Studentship, Language-Based Area Studies.

  • University of Edinburgh — Institute for Academic Development: Project Lead, Curriculum Decolonisation in IMES and Beyond (£1,000).

  • Syrian Teenagers Tutoring and Education Programme (STTEPS) — Principal’s Award; local government funding secured.

  • CDCS Training Grant (£1,500) — attended the Digital Methods Initiative (Trolls, Bots and Dictators, University of Amsterdam, July 2019) to develop and pilot novel methods for analysing contemporary platform manipulation.

  • SOAS University of London: Training Grant, Political Islam: Global & Local Manifestations and Challenges (£2,000).

  • European Union (host: University of Cambridge) — Academic research intervention evaluating UK de-radicalisation programmes and transferring findings to EU governments (€471,658).

Publications

  • Ferron, A. R. and Palmer, C. (2015) ‘Conference report: “The Arab Uprising: Researching the Revolutions”’, Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant. https://doi.org/10.1179/1752726015Z.00000000032.

    Ferron, A. R. (2025, 13 March) ‘Decolonising the Curriculum in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Beyond’, Teaching Matters (University of Edinburgh).

Digital scholarship & methods

  • Digital Methods Initiative Summer School (2019):

    • 'Research Persona as Digital Method' — team member/key contributor (persona protocols; media-environment walkthroughs).

    • 'Tracing relational affect on social platforms (Syrian war case)' — team member/key contributor (Vision API; DMI-TCAT/Instagram scraper).

Policy & practice

  • Policy reports and internal analyses for UK local government and the FCO (confidential/limited circulation).

In preparation

  • Monograph (in preparation).

  • Journal article from PhD thesis (in preparation).

  • Hidāyah — Research Volunteer (contributed to research and analysis tasks).

  • Syrian Teenager Tutoring and Educational Programme (STTEPS) — Tutor/Translator (Arabic-English); Education Volunteer; programme recognised with the Principal’s Award and secured local government funding.

  • Data Carpentry Workshop (University of Edinburgh, instructor) — 2-day training covering spreadsheets/OpenRefine, introductory Python, analysis/visualisation, and SQL; 4–5 June 2019, Edinburgh.

  • Invited workshop — Queering the Middle East, University of Edinburgh (UG & PG audiences; Student Experience Grant-supported).

  • Decolonising Wikipedia Network (DWN) — Contributing Editor (content development and community editing).

  • Widening Participation in Higher Education — sustained outreach to broaden access to HE.

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