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About
I am Lecturer in Cultural Sociology at the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, where I convene and teach core modules on the Cultural Studies and Sociology programmes. While I began this post in 2012, I have been a member of the School for much longer as both student and teacher. I studied at Kent for a BA in Sociology and Philosophy (2006), an MA in Sociology (2007) and a PhD in Sociology (2013), and taught as an Assistant Lecturer in Sociology and Cultural Studies from 2008 - 2012.
Contact Information
Address
Room E137
Cornwallis East
University of Kent
Canterbury
Kent CT2 7NF
By appointment
Links
Publications
Also view these in the Kent Academic Repository
Abstract | View in KAR | View Full Text
Abstract | View in KAR | View Full Text
Abstract | View in KAR | View Full Text
Research Interests
My research is informed by interests in the politics of memory and narrative, perceptions of class, generation and community, and oral historical methods. I have written or am writing on the cultural life and collective memory of the British left, and the role that heritage practices play in shaping processes of deindustrialisation.
I am a member of the SSPSSR’s Work, Employment and Economic Life research cluster and the Centre for Heritage in the School of European Culture and Languages.
Current
I am currently working on two research projects: an oral history of social change on the Isle of Thanet in Kent, and an historical and contemporary exploration of the cultural spaces and activities of the British and US left.
Past
- 2015-2017 Heritage Work and (De)industrial Displacement: This project explores the industrial legacies and imprints in the town of Faversham in Kent. Using oral historical, ethnographic and visual methods, it looks at the multiple roles that concepts and objects of industrial heritage and 'tradition' play in struggles over the social, cultural and economic identities of deindustrialised areas, and in plans for their regeneration.
- 2008-2013 The Social Life of Utopia: My doctoral research examined the generational transmission of political ideals on the British left. Through oral historical interviews it explores the ways in which members' experiences are negotiated and understood through interpersonal, ideological and canonical group identities. It looks at how a sense of purpose and of what seems achievable are developed in the relationships activists have with the analytical narratives and internal cultures of their movements.
PhD supervision
I would be interested in receiving supervision enquires in the areas of cultural memory and heritage, autobiography, social and cultural history, generational identities, deindustrialisation, or political cultures and movements.
Current PhD students:
- Joanna Malone: 'Insights into the Experiences, Stability and Nature of Unbelief for Older Adults in the UK'
- Abigail MacGregor: 'A Life Sentence?: the impact of incarceration on long-term prisoner and ex-offender self-identity'
- Rebecca Geach: 'Dissent from common-sense: To what extent have the socio-economic realities and rhetoric of a decade of austerity impacted upon how activists engage in political action?'
- Ben Pollock: 'More than a Game: An Exploration of Three-Sided Football as a Counter-cultural Movement'
- Luke Shoveller: ‘Industrial Heritage, Aesthetics and Legacies in the Garden of England: Forgetting, Remembering and Preserving in the Kent Coalfield’
- Emma Pleasant: ‘Beyond the Dockyards: Changing Narratives of Industrial Occupational Cultures in Medway'
Teaching
Undergraduate
SO334 Modern Culture
SO750 Popular Culture, Media and Society
SO621 Narrative, Myth and Cultural Memory
SO679 Research Dissertation
SO683 Cultural Studies Dissertation
Postgraduate
SO886 Worlds of Work
I convene the Developing Your Teaching graduate teacher training programme and teach sessions on critical pedagogical reflection and seminar structure.
back to topActivities
Memberships
- Memory Studies Association - Co-chair of the Work, Class and Memory working group
- Oral History Society
- Working-Class Studies Association
Editorial work
- Journal of Working-Class Studies - member of the Editorial Collective
- The Conversation Paperpress - former Commissioning Editor (2009-2014)
Media work
My research has featured on BBC South East Today and BBC Radio Kent.