Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences
I am a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences and Vice-Chancellor’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Fellow. I joined the University as a Lecturer in 2018 from Northumbria University, having worked here previously as a visiting lecturer and research associate. I am Programme Leader for MSc Inequality and Society. I teach undergraduate and postgraduate students in social theory and social research methods.
My research interests are largely in urban and cultural geography and sociology. I am interested in the everyday experience and the development of post-industrial cities and urban culture, the sociology and political economy of the arts and cultural and creative industries, everyday geographies, moral economy, urban regeneration and sustainability practices, and the theory and practice of social research.
I am a Vice-Chancellor's Research and Knowledge Exchange Fellow (2023–2025) carrying out research into the cultural landscape of the city of Sunderland, the social and spatial impacts of cultural regeneration on the city's cultural economy, communities, and the urban 'sense of place'.
Teaching and supervision
- Changing Worlds: Understanding Globalization, Work, and Identities in the 21st Century
- Social Science Research and Inquiry
- Social Science Dissertation
- Inequality and Society Dissertation
I supervise undergraduate social science dissertation students and postgraduate dissertation students on MSc Inequality and Society.
I currently supervise the following postgraduate research students:
Ms Jacqueline Merchant: ‘The existential crunch that is midlife’: An exploration of psychosocial wellbeing for women at midlife, and the implications of lifecourse events in contemporary Western society.
Research interests for potential research students
I welcome applications of interest from candidates interested in the sociology and geography of arts and cultural and creative industries, postindustrial urban transformations, cities, everyday geographies, culture, aesthetics, and community, as well as realist and/or complexity-informed research, and/or quantitative, ethnographic, narrative, spatial, or creative research methods.
Research
My research interests are broadly concerned with (especially postindustrial) cities and urban transformations, cultural and creative industries, the social significance of art and culture, everyday geographies, and the philosophy and practice of social research.
My VC’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Fellowship is exploring the regeneration of Sunderland’s urban landscape (centred on the Riverside developments and the ‘cultural quarter’ around the Fire Station and Keel Square); focusing particularly on the significance and meaning of place, and a ‘sense of place’, for cultural developments, the role of cultural institutions and organisations in redevelopment and their significance for communities. This research involves working with cultural and creative, public sector, and community organisations in Sunderland. I am using a mixed-methods approach – including visual methods and photo diaries – to explore the urban developments and the significance of a ‘sense of place’.
I am also a Principal Investigator on a research project funded through the UKRI Policy Support Fund exploring ‘beautiful back-lanes’ projects and the everyday factors, the policy context, and the evidence base involved in community-led urban beautification and sustainability practices.
I have previously been involved in research concerned with postindustrial cities and artistic identities, cultural and creative industries, interpersonal violence, third-sector organisations and austerity, and student experiences of higher education.