Role
Doctoral Research Candidate/Associate Lecturer
Qualifications & background
BA (Hons) Contemporary History (University of Sussex) 1992
PGCE (University of Sussex) 1994
MSc Social Research (Distinction) (University of Plymouth) 2010
Professional membership
British Sociological Association
Institute for Learning
Teaching interests
My teaching interests include: the sociology of health and illness (in particular public health discourses, health inequalities); the sociology of human reproduction; qualitative research methods; qualitative data analysis.
Research interests
The title of my PhD project is:
The Discourses and Lived Experiences of 'Maternal Obesity' and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Pregnancy (T2DM)
The research utilises a broadly Foucauldian theoretical framework to explore the discursive terrain pertaining to these medical 'conditions'. It then phenomenologically explores women's lived experiences of pregnancy complicated by 'obesity', GDM/T2DM and considers how women position themselves with respect to 'expert' medico-scientific/public health and popular media discourses.
Other research
Exploring Multiparous Women's Experiences of being an 'Older' Mother
Publications
Conference Papers:
November 2010 ‘Experiences of Older Mothers’,
South West Region MedSoc Postgraduate Symposium, University of Plymouth
April 2011 ‘Renewing Mothering after the age of 35: “What the hell would you go back to that gain for?”’, British Sociological Association 60th Anniversary Conference, London School of Economics
May 2011 ‘Risk, Responsibility and Resistance in the Narratives of ‘Older’ Mothers’, Reproduction Matters in the 21st Century, University of Plymouth
Conferences organised
British Sociological Association Postgraduate Event: Auto/Biographical Approaches to Sociological Research, Plymouth University, 18th February 2011
