Thom Brooks is a sought-after speaker on citizenship, immigration, justice and public policy, with over 300 keynote lectures, invited talks and public briefings delivered across the UK and internationally. To invite him to speak, [contact him here].
He has spoken in more than ten countries, including Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, the Republic of Ireland, the USA and the UK and at some of the world’s leading universities, among them Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Chicago, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Sciences Po Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Ghent, Groningen, KU Leuven, Lund, LUISS, Oslo, Uppsala and many others.
Beyond academia, he has delivered talks at the Houses of Parliament, TEDx, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, the Edinburgh Fringe, the Carlsberg Akademi in Copenhagen, the Institute for Public Policy Research–North, Northern Stage and Durham Book Fair, among others.
Testimonials:
“Thom Brooks is an asset” – Henley & Partners
“Entertaining, inspirational and educational!” – Jason Webber, Show Racism the Red Card
“Really well received by everyone!” – Ben Powick, Policy Advisor, North East Chamber of Commerce
“Engaging, enlightening, humorous and inspiring” – St David’s Catholic College, Cardiff
“There’s nothing more refreshing than having a speaker talk, with knowledge, who has no real need for slides, only for making points” – Dawn Gyles, Edinburgh Sceptics
“So many people have told me it was their favourite talk since the start of the series and I don’t disagree!”– Prof Constantine Sandis, organiser of ‘Why Philosophy Matters’ Public Lectures at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum
“Lively, engaged and very popular among the student body. This lecture was compelling, I learned a lot, and time passed very quickly.” – Prof Deirdre McCann, Professor of Law, Durham University
“Thom sets the highest standards in teaching. His enthusiasm for teaching is both obvious and infectious.” – Prof Roger Masterman, Professor of Law, Durham University
“In 16 years of Higher Education, including six years as a student and ten years as a lecturer, this was clearly one of the best taught sessions I have witnessed.”. – Prof Alex Hughes, Professor in Economic Geography, Newcastle University
Recent speaking engagements (300+ events) (does not include speaking engagements with television or radio):
14 May 2026 Invited, LegalEdCon, annual Legal Cheek legal education conference, London, UK.
13 January 2026 Invited, House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee, Settlement, Citizenship and Integration Inquiry, Houses of Parliament, UK.
2-5 December 2025 Panel speaker, “On getting professors engaged in college,” The 5th Collegiate Way International conference, Durham University, UK.
1 December 2025 Invited speaker, “How to work in politics,” College of St Hild and St Bede Senior Common Room, Durham, UK
15 October 2025 Panel chair, “Magna Carta in the North,” Durham Cathedral, UK.
11-13 September 2025 Invited speaker; “The Philosophy of Right and wrong: Hegel on crime, transgression and injustice” conference; Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law; Freiburg, Germany.
17 June 2025 Invited speaker, The work of Bhikhu Parekh, St Antony’s College, Oxford, UK.
15 May 2025 Invited speaker, LegalEdCon 2025, London, UK.
31 March 2025 Invited speaker, Serbian Association for Legal Philosophy (Serbia IVR), Serbia.
21 February 2025 Invited commentator, American Philosophical Association–Central Division, USA.
3 February 2025 Invited speaker, Populism and civil disobedience panel, St Chad’s College, Durham, UK.
22 January 2025 Invited speaker, on how academics can influence policy makers, Leeds Trinity University Law School, UK.
17 January 2025 Invited speaker, Creating impact from legal research – panel discussion, Society of Legal Scholars, UK.
5 November 2024 British Legal Reform book launch, London, UK.
25 October 2024 Invited speaker, “Punitive Restoration and Restorative Justice,” Responsibility and the Law Workshop, Philosophy Department, Lund University, Sweden.
17 October 2024 Invited speaker, Extremism Threats Unit; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, UK.
19 September 2024 Invited speaker, principled punishment and the use of penal purposes in sentencing guidelines, Ministry of Justice Areas of Research Interest (MOJ ARI) Academic Seminars, Evidence & Partnership Hub, MOJ Analysis Directorate, Ministry of Justice, UK.
3-5 September 2024 Speaker, “Dean’s Dilemma: Rethinking Theory and Practice in the Law School,” Society of Legal Scholars annual conference, University of Bristol, UK.
21 June 2024 Invited keynote speaker, punitive restoration, Aarhus Centre for Conflict Management, Aarhus University, Denmark.
20 June 2024 Invited speaker, Royal Danish Society of Science and Letters, Copenhagen, Denmark.
6-7 June 2024 Invited speaker, 10th Annual Equality and Citizenship Summer School, Croatia.
6 June 2024 Public lecture, “How Not to Save the Planet,” Opatija Coffeehouse Debates, Croatia.
15 March 2024 Invited speaker, Festschrift for Robert Stern, Department of Philosophy, University of Sheffield, UK.
27 February 2024 Invited panellist, “Change or Chaos? What Will the 2024 Global Elections Mean for the World?” Stephenson Ideas event, Stephenson College, Durham, UK
25 January 2024 Invited seminar speaker “Justice and the Problem of Alienation”; Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs; Departments of Philosophy; the University of St Andrews, UK.
25 January 2024 Lead discussant, Moral Philosophy Reading Group, Departments of Philosophy, the University of St Andrews, UK.
25 October 2023 Public lecture, “Becoming British: The UK’s Citizenship Test,” Festival of Social Science, Durham University, UK.
6 October 2023 Invited speaker, ‘Debate: This House Has No Confidence in His Majesty’s Government’, Durham Union Society, UK. Participants include Stephen Kinnock MP, Sir Robert Buckland KC MP and Huw Merriman MP.
29 September 2023 Invited speaker, “Applying the Unified Theory of Punishment,” Norwegian Association for Legal Philosophy, University of Oslo, Norway.
28 September 2023 Invited speaker, “The Unified Theory of Punishment,” Norwegian Association for Legal Philosophy, University of Oslo, Norway.
10-11 July 2023 Invited speaker, “Just War and Self-Defence,” Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany.
30 May 2023 Invited speaker, “How to Get Involved with Labour Policy Making with Thom Brooks,” Young Fabian Academy, London, UK.
23 May 2023 Invited speaker, Asylum and Refugees after Brexit Roundtable, Independent Commission on UK-EU Relations, London, UK.
20 May 2023 Invited speaker, “New Arrivals: A Fair Immigration System for Labour,” County Durham Fabian Society, UK.
18 May 2023 Invited speaker, Is SQE good for legal education?, LegalEdCon, Legal Cheek annual conference, King’s Place, London.
27 April 2023 Invited speaker, Labour Party on Immigration, Hampstead and Kilburn Constituency Labour Party, London.
14 March 2023 Invited speaker, “Becoming British: UK Immigration Law and Policy”, Open HONOURS Guest Lecture, St David’s College, Cardiff, UK.
26 January 2023 Invited speaker, Discussion Panel with the Brown Commission, Society of Labour Lawyers, Inner Temple, UK.
21 January 2023 Chair, The Left’s Agenda for Defeating Populism, Fabian Society annual conference, London, UK.
8 January 2023 Invited speaker, Jewish Labour Movement annual conference, London, UK.
