University of Portsmouth

Faculty Member, School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies

Lecturer in Sociology

Thesis Title: The Construction of Discursive Difficulty: The Circulation of, and Resistance to, Moral Asymmetries in the Public Debate over the Invasion of Iraq in 2003

About

I have just started as a Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies at the University of Portsmouth.

I was previously employed as a Lecturer in the Division of Politics and Sociology at Nottingham Trent University, a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, a part-time teacher in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham, the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University, and as a part-time Lecturer at De Montfort University, Leicester. 

I am fascinated by the dynamics of mediated discourse in contemporary, and historical, public debates.  I am interested in rhetorical positioning activity, and this has led me to consider, among other things, the discursive construction of 'identities' in various social conflicts.  I have pursued this by examining various types of material, including parliamentary debates, campaign posters, and the content of newspapers and magazines. 

Methodologically, I use an eclectic mix of discursive and visual methods.  I am also interested in the sociology of food - a subdiscipline which deserves far more attention than it usually receives.

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