Techne Student Congress
Distanced But Not Alone:
The Practice of Being a PhD Researcher
8th to 10th July 2020
Speakers
DR AARON BRYANT
Curator, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Aaron Bryant is Curator of Photography, Visual Culture, and Contemporary History at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Photo credit: The Washington Post
ANDREW LOCKETT
University of Westminster
Andrew Lockett is Press Manager at the University of Westminster Press that publishes five open access journals that will become six by the end of 2020. Three were started at UWP. He has previously occupied senior roles in academic book publishing at BFI Publishing, OUP and Routledge. He has written (with Lara Speicher of UCL Press): ‘New university presses in the UK: Accessing a mission’ (Learned Publishing, 2016) and ‘Monographs on the move: A view on “decoupling” and other prospects’ for UKSG Insights in 2018) working closely with platform provider Ubiquity Press and UWP’s six journal editorial boards.
ANNA MCNALLY
University of Westminster
After studying Philosophy at BA, Anna qualified as an archivist in 2004, and worked at Tate Archive before joining the University of Westminster in 2009. Her role is focused on helping students to understand archives, and she has published several articles in this area. Since 2015, Anna has also been responsible for the China Visual Arts Project Archive.
BEN COLE
Loughborough University London
Ben looks after the partners for Techne. For the past 5 years Ben has been part of establishing Loughborough University’s campus on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London – LU LDN . The multi-disciplinary research led campus is seen as a model for modern universities developing second campuses and has been integral to both the ongoing success of the university and the regeneration of east London. Ben has worked to develop the LU LDN campus USP of innovation and entrepreneurship. He was involved in developing its cutting edge curriculum and most recently developing the partnerships to bring this alive for its staff, students and graduates. Being at the heart of the Here East complex, Ben has been integral to developing partnerships that deliver both societal value and value to the university. An example of this would be his work as part of establishing the Global Disability Innovation Hub or his role on the leadership group for Citizens UK .
DR CANGBAI WANG
University of Westminster
Cangbai Wang is Reader in Chinese Studies and the co-director of HOMELandS (Hub on Migration, Exiles, Languages and Spaces) at University of Westminster. He specialises in the study of transnational Chinese migration to and from China, professional migrants in postcolonial Hong Kong, and migration-related cultural heritage studies. He is the author of Life is Elsewhere: Stories of the Indonesian Chinese in Hong Kong (2006). He has published widely in peer-reviewed international journals including International Journal of Heritage Studies, Asian Population Studies, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Modern Languages Open, China Information and Modern China.
CAROL HUGHES
Techne Senior Administration Officer
Carol is the Techne Senior Adminsitrator responsible for funding and recruitment. She can advise on UKRI doctoral scholarships and on applying for Techne AHRC funding for placements. Before joining Royal Holloway, Carol worked for Bracknell Forest Council in Environment, Culture and Communities.
CHRIS CORR
Inkpath Client Success Manager
Chris’s role at Inkpath is to ensure the growing number of Inkpath customers are receiving the best possible experience. Chris was originally a Computer Scientist and joins Inkpath with a range of experience that includes fifteen years in the education industry covering teaching, senior management, inspection and consultancy, roles in technology start-ups and experience of GDPR.
CLARE TWOMEY
Artist, Researcher and Curator
Clare Twomey is a British artist, researcher, and curator (b 1968) Twomey is a leading figure in expansive material/clay practice, her work engages with and challenges historic modes of public access to museum collections through art practice and participation by expanding the accessibility. This artist lead exploration is located in the area of art, ceramics and crafts practices in museum and contemporary art institutions, making original and significant contributions to knowledge in the field.
PROF. CORAL DANDO
University of Westminster
Prof Coral Dando is a chartered psychologist and is a professor of Forensic and Cognitive Psychology at the University of Westminster. Her research explores a range of ethically critical topics such as modern-day slavery, police interview practices and airport security. She regularly collaborates with organisations as diverse as the FBI, the British Government and police forces around the world. She is an experienced University Research Ethics Committees chair.
DR GORAN VODICKA
University of Westminster
Dr Goran Vodicka is an architect, researcher and educator. He is a Lecturer in Architecture at Sheffield Hallam University and a Research Fellow at the University of Westminster where he works on HERA funded project ‘FESTSPACE: Festivals, events and inclusive public spaces’. He completed his PhD entitled ‘Everyday public spaces in an ethnically diverse neighbourhood: contextualised convivialities and boundary-crossing urban design’ in 2018 at the University of Sheffield.
IRAM GHUFRAN
University of Westminster
Iram Ghufran is in her 3rd year of a practice-based PhD at CREAM. She is a filmmaker from Delhi with research interests in documentary film studies, science fiction and science/technology studies. Her work has been shown in several international art and cinematic contexts. She was shortlisted for the Tim Hetherington Visionary Award (2016), has received a Special Jury Mention at the SAARC Film Festival, Colombo (2016), and has won two National Awards (2012) and the Mary Kay First Prize at the International Women's Film Festival, Seoul (2012). Iram is part of the editorial collective for Hyphen Journal.
DR JOHN MILES
Inkpath Founder and CEO
John conceived and built the very first proof-of-concept prototype of Inkpath while at Oxford back in 2013 and has been developing the idea and growing the business ever since.
Before Inkpath, John was Training Officer for the Humanities Division at Oxford and a Research Associate at Wadham College. Before that he taught Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature in the English Department at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he was Caroline Spurgeon Research Fellow.
PROF KALWANT BHOPAL
University of Birmingham
Kalwant Bhopal is Professor of Education and Social Justice. In January 2020 she became Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education (CRRE) in the School of Education at University of Birmingham. Kalwant’s research focuses on the achievements and experiences of minority ethnic groups in education. She has conducted research on exploring discourses of identity and intersectionality examining the lives of Black minority ethnic groups as well as examining the marginal position of Gypsies and Travellers. Her research on this area has been used to inform policy making in higher education, particularly the development of the Race Equality Charter mark. She has published 9 books, 10 edited collections and various journal articles.
KIM LONGINOTTO
Documentary Filmmaker
Kim Longinotto is a British documentary filmmaker that highlights the plight of female victims of oppression or discrimination. Longinotto studied English and European Literature at Essex University and later went to the National Film and Television School.
She has received many awards, including a BAFTA for Pink Sari (2011). Among her more than twenty films, she has challenged the tradition of female genital mutilation in Kenya in The Day I Will Never Forget (2002), and told the story of an Indian Muslim woman who smuggled poetry out to the world while locked up by her family in Salma (2013). In Dreamcatcher (2015) Longinotto looks at the work of a former sex worker who rescues Chicago girls from the street.
KIRSTEN FORREST
Curatorial Manager, Alexandra Palace
Kirsten Forrest is a sinologist with a curatorial background in local museums, now responsible for interpretation and collections management at Alexandra Palace, as part of the restoration project team. Kirsten previously worked in national museums and during her 13 years with the British Museum in London delivered more than 60 exhibitions. In recent years Kirsten has been collaborating closely with HE researchers and specialists in digital media, gaining practice-based research experience in visitor engagement across diverse subjects and collections.
DR LAURA BOUBERT
University of Westminster
Dr Laura Boubert is a chartered psychologist at the University of Westminster. Dr Boubert’s cognitive research explores the underpinnings of hallucinations and her educational research focuses on research ethics procedures and practices. Her university roles have included chairing Research Ethics Committees and the development of a virtual environment for the implementation of ethics processes.
DR LI JIN
University of Westminster
Dr. Li Jin is a senior lecturer at University of Westminster, UK. Her expertise and research are centred on emerging immersive technology including Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, gamification, and social media in cultural informatics and education. She has introduced transformative innovations for fostering creativity in interdisciplinary research and pedagogical practices. Her own cutting-edge work with students as co-creators has been shared with colleagues and partners from other UK and overseas institutions for cultural and public engagement including V&A museum, Alexandra Palace Charitable Trust, and Royal College of Physicians.
LIZ WILKINSON
The Careers Group
Liz is a Senior Careers Consultant at The Careers Group, with specialisms in postgraduate and academic careers and digital employability. Formerly Director of Careers and Employability at Royal Holloway for 15 years, Liz Wilkinson led a multidisciplinary team of 18 staff to empower 10,000 students to launch themselves into graduate careers. Liz has 30 years’ experience in employability, graduate recruitment and HE. She has worked in 6 universities including UCL, Goldsmiths and Queen Mary, and when Deputy Director of Careers at King’s College London, she set up the targeted careers support for PhD students. She currently acts as the Senior Careers Consultant for the masters and doctoral students of the School of Advanced Studies, University of London as well as digital employability education lead for University of London Worldwide.
LUKE MEDDINGS
Director of Qual, Blinc
Luke Meddings is Director of Qual at Blinc. Luke Meddings is also an international speaker, teacher trainer and award-winning author in language education. His book Teaching Unplugged won a British Council UK Award for Innovation in 2010, and he has given plenary talks, courses and workshops at universities and conferences around the world.
DR MARGHERITA SPRIO
University of Westminster
Dr Margherita Sprio is Reader and Deputy Director of the Graduate School at the University of Westminster. She is the author of Migrant Memories: Cultural History, Cinema and the Italian Post-War Diaspora in Britain (Peter Lang, 2013). She is currently working on her forthcoming book, Women in the Frame: Feminist Intimacies on the British Screen, (Bloomsbury Academic). She studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths (University of London) and The Slade School of Art (University College London) and then worked for a time showing her art work internationally before going on to gain her PhD at Goldsmiths.
DR MATTHEW MORRISON
University of Westminster
Dr Matt Morrison leads Creative Writing degrees at the University of Westminster. He is a playwright whose work has been performed at The Riverside Studios, The Finborough, The Arcola, Wilton’s Music Hall, The Gate, Theatre Clwyd and The Old Vic Tunnels. He is a Papatango award winner and his play Inside Out was chosen for the inaugural HighTide festival. Matt’s academic work includes: The Soho Theatre 1968-81 (STR, 2018); Key Concepts in Creative Writing (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010); Big Questions; incredible adventures in thinking (Icon Books, 2007). Matt has a degree in philosophy and a doctorate in theatre history.
MATTHIAS KISPERT
University of Westminster
Matthias Kispert is an artist and researcher with an interest in the intersections of art, politics and activism. He is a practice-based PhD researcher at the University of Westminster, using artistic research methods to investigate precarious work on digital labour platforms. He is a co-founder of Hyphen Journal and is Editor-in-chief for its upcoming Issue. He has a history as an electronic music composer and performer, is a lecturer in Sound Art and Fine Art, and has been coordinating the Committee on Activism for the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy for several years.
NEIL GRIFFITHS
University of Westminster
Neil Griffiths was MD for Blinc, a broadcast research agency for 15 years, specialising in innovative methodologies. In addition to his research experience Neil has published 3 novels, founded a literary prize, and is currently completing a PhD by Published Work at the University of Westminster.
POLLY HEMBER
Royal Holloway, University of London
​Polly Hember is a techne funded PhD student at Royal Holloway, University of London. Focusing on modernism and visual culture, her thesis explores the fiction and film work of the POOL group. She is a postgraduate representative for the British Association of Modernist Studies (BAMS), co-edits the Modernist Review and the techne podcast. She is currently co-organising the Following the Affective Turn Symposium (2021) and the Figuring Out Feeling Conference (2021). You can find her on twitter at @pollyhember
DR RÓISÍN FLOOD
University of Essex
Róisín Ryan-Flood is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Director of the Centre for Intimate and Sexual Citizenship (CISC) at the University of Essex. Her research interests include gender, sexuality, citizenship, kinship and critical epistemologies. She is the author of Lesbian Motherhood: Gender, Families and Sexual Citizenship (Palgrave, 2009) and co-editor of Secrecy and Silence in the Research Process: Feminist Reflections (Routledge, 2010) and Transnationalising Reproduction: Third Party Conception in a Globalised World (Routledge, 2018). Since 2012, she has been co-editor of the journal Sexualities: Studies in Culture and Society (Sage). She is currently writing a book about gender and intimacy in the digital era.
DR SALLY-SHAKTI WILLOW
University of Wesminster
Sally-Shakti Willow completed her PhD at the University of Westminster in 2019. While studying she also co-developed and taught a series of workshops called Wellbeing While Writing. Wellbeing While Writing used practical techniques from Creative Writing pedagogy to support PhD students of all disciplines with WRITING their thesis. She also used her knowledge and experience of yoga and meditation to provide Moving & Breathing For Wellbeing workshops to graduate students at the University. Sally-Shakti has been teaching English since 2004 and she taught English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Westminster from 2015 - 2019.
DR SASKIA HUC-HEPHER
University of Westminster
Saskia Huc-Hepher is Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Westminster. Her research focuses on London’s French diaspora, in both on-land and on-line contexts. She has been involved in several leading digital humanities projects (AADDA, BUDDAH) and is sole-curator of the London French Special Collection in the British Library’s UK Web Archive. Huc-Hepher is co-investigator on the London Transformation project and a member of the Digital Diasporas guest editorial board (Palgrave Communications). She has published in Big Data & Society, Modern Languages Open and National Identities, and her monograph will be out with Manchester University Press in 2021.
DR SÉAGH KEHOE
University of Westminster
Dr. Séagh Kehoe is a Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow at the School of Humanities, University of Westminster. Their research focuses on the cultural dimensions of social and political transformation in modern and contemporary China. They are especially interested in Chinese media representations of ethnicity and race, gender and sexuality, nationalism, and military. They tweet @seaghkehoe.
PROF SHIRLEY THOMPSON
University of Westminster
Dr Shirley J. Thompson creates, produces, artistically directs and conducts large-scale stage works including opera, contemporary ballet and orchestral productions for the concert hall, contemporary dance spaces and music theatre/opera opera houses that push the boundaries of traditional classical music forms and content, with the intention of creating diversity in contemporary classical composition and strengthening its audience reach.
PROF. TERRY LAMB
University of Westminster
Terry Lamb is Professor of Languages and Interdisciplinary Pedagogy at the University of Westminster, London. His research focuses on the ways in which constructs of place, space and critical autonomy intersect in relation to linguistic diversity and language learning and on activist research that challenges social, cultural and linguistic injustices. His projects have included several at the European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe, e.g. Supporting Multilingual Classrooms. Terry has worked closely on languages strategy and curriculum with the UK and other Governments (Australia, Czech Republic, France and Malaysia) and is founder editor of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching.
TESSA PETERS
Independent Curator
Tessa Peters studied Fine Art at Winchester School of Art and has an MA in the History of Design from Middlesex University. She works as an independent curator in the public and private sector having produced exhibitions for Contemporary Applied Arts (1990 – 94, 2012), the Barbican Centre (1996 – 99), the Bowes Museum (2002), Pitzhanger Manor (2002), Dr Johnson’s House (2009), the Crafts Study Centre (2011), Marsden Woo Gallery (2010 – 15), and the Anthony Shaw Collection at York Art Gallery (20 16-17).
DR THOMAS MOORE
University of Westminster
Dr Thomas Moore is Associate Head of College (Education and Students) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Westminster. Dr Moore's research explores the geopolitical and ethical dimensions of contemporary just war theory. With an increasing focus on theories of international security, recent publications have been concerned with the philosophical foundations of contemporary security debates and humanitarian claims within international discourse within an ethical context.