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With many years of developing and leading programmes in HE, I have a sustained record of teaching and supervising across numerous UG and PG programmes, including at PhD level. I am the Course Leader for Creative Writing (Film) and Course Leader for Teaching and Learning in the Arts for Postgraduate Researchers, a not for credit module open to all PG students (PhD, MFA and Masters by Research qualification) in KSA.

Previous roles include being the Head of Department for Linguistics and Languages (January 2014-July 2017) where I led five subject teams across the Department (English Language and Linguistics, French and Spanish, English for Academic and Professional Development (EAPD)) and the Kingston Language Scheme (KLS) and mentored colleagues. As Course Leader for the BA English Language and Linguistics programme (previously English Language and Communication) I led the development of new courses including the Foundation year to provide students with exciting and creative learning opportunities in English language and linguistics.

With teaching and research expertise across several disciplines, I have taught across several subject areas, Departments and Schools, such as Language and Linguistics, Creative Writing, English, Media and Communication, and Education, applying research-led teaching to provide the best learning experience that meets course aims and outcomes, and student expectations. I have been described as an 'innovative', 'inspiring' and 'supportive' tutor and in June 2021, I was nominated for an Academic Impact Award for the 'Most engaging online teaching' with the core criteria being: â€˜for a staff member's support during the covid-19 pandemic' who 'demonstrates innovative teaching methods away from face to face learning' and, who ‘exemplifies support provided in light of dramatic changes to teaching and daily life'.

I have three publications on innovations in learning and teaching pedagogy, developed from my own action research, including on the experience and impact of the 'flipped classroom'.

Qualifications

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (SFHEA)

Course director

• Creative Writing BA (Hons)

Courses taught

• Creative Writing MA
• Creative Writing MA (Distance Learning)

I have over 30 publications in peer reviewed journals and books. I have published four books, with two forthcoming (2024). I have also guest edited a Special Issue on 'Narrative' (2014) for an international journal in stylistics. I conduct research in literary and non-literary stylistics; narratology; personal and trauma narratives; media stylistics. and teaching pedagogy. I present new research at international conferences annually, where I have also been an invited plenary speaker. In 2023, I was invited as a Keynote speaker at the 'Describing exclusion, writing inclusion in the 21st century, Contemporary storytelling as (re)mediation' Conference at IETT- Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University / LLSETI – Savoie Mont Blanc University; and as plenary speaker on the subject of 'Green Stylistics' at the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) Conference, organised by the University of Bologna. 

In 2010, I conducted ethnographic research as a visiting lecturer based at New York University, interviewing survivors of the 9/11 attacks for research on trauma narratives, part of which is mentioned in my TEDx talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcRpCa-_xTc (6.4k views, November 2023). I was attempting to understand how individuals are able to make sense of their traumatic experiences in how they structure and evaluate them into a narrative form. I have published on my findings. My research on trauma narratives has been published in several works as journal articles and book chapters.  

I am currently supervising three Phd students:

• Neil Deuchar. Fin Carter: a Modern Retelling of Siddhartha.
• Louisa Lowe: The Carriage and the Ivy: three hundred years of social change from Edinburgh 1721 to Chichester 2021. 
• Dina Galladah. Framing Egyptian foreign policy in international print media. Second Supervisor.

Qualifications

• I am the Editor-in-Chief of the 'Journal of Literary Semantics', an international journal that publishes on stylistics and narratology.

Specialisms

• Stylistics
• Narratology
• Trauma narratives
• Disnarration and counterfactual narratives
• Media stylistics

Scholarly affiliations

• Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA)
• Journal of Literary Semantics (JLS) - Editor-in-Chief
• International Conference on Narrative (ICN)
• University Council for General and Applied Linguistics (UCGAL) - Council board member

I am Chair of the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA), an international association for those who work in stylistics, poetics, language and linguistics. PALA plays an important role in policy making as it is one of the eleven member associations of the University of General and Applied Linguistics (UCGAL), which provides a unified voice on public policy matters for linguistics within the UK higher education community. The Council promotes research, teaching and learning, and scholarship in general and applied linguistics; and promotes co-operation and co-ordination, and the sharing of expertise and good practice between institutions, learned societies, professional associations and related bodies in the area of general and applied linguistics.

Since January 2021, I have been Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Literary Semantics (De Gruyter) overseeing the production of two issues of the journal a year, from submission stage and review to acceptance. 

I am also a representative for the Learned Societies for English: Shared Futures. 

My leadership and management roles at the University include:

• Course Leader for BA Creative Writing; Course Leader for BA Creative Writing and Film Cultures; member of the CCI School learning and teaching Committee
• Module Leader for the PGR Teaching and Learning in the Arts module 
• Departmental (Humanities) Study Abroad Co-ordinator 2014-17; 2022- Responsible for a positive student experience through the oversight of student study abroad activities;
• Departmental Level 4 Personal Tutorial Scheme Co-ordinator;
• Head of Department for linguistics and languages (January 2014-July2017) managing five subject areas during a challenging time of restructuring and redundancies. Appraising and mentoring all staff members: validating and revalidating new and existing programmes; ensuring the smooth running of the Department;
• Athena Swan – Lead for Promotion and Progression sub group (2020- ) in KSA, working with the Chair of the Kingston School of Art (KSA) – led to the Bronze Award;
• REF (mock) internal reviewer for REF 2021 evaluating publications from across the Department of Humanities for submission;
• TECHNE Subject Group D member, 2017-, assessing PhD proposals in language, linguistics and literature for sponsorship as part of a network contributing to Doctoral training;
• KSA College of Research Ethics committee member evaluating and making recommendations on PG proposals for progression and upgrade;

Other

• Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Literary Semantics (De Gruyter), an international peer reviewed journal in stylistics and narrative theory

University responsibilities

• Athena Swan lead for Promotion and Progression sub group
• Member of the TECHNE Peer Review College (Subject Group D) for the University
• Member of the CCI School learning and teaching Committee
• Course Leader for the PGR Teaching and Learning in the Arts module

Public and Civic roles

• QAA Advisory Board Member for CReative Writing, Subject Benchmark Statement review (2023-24)
• Subject Consultant for AQA exam board. Review and advise on development of ‘A' level English Language and Literature specifications
• Subject Consultant for EDEXCEL exam Board. Review and advise on development of ‘A' level English Language and Literature specifications
• Consultant at Franklyn Scholars to improve literacy in schools through a mentoring scheme