Geography, Geology and the Environment

I am a graduate of Glasgow University where I gained my MA (Sociology) in 1998 and PhD (Sociology and Geography) in 2002. I have taught at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, the Open University, the Glasgow School of Art, and the Crichton Campus of the University of the West of Scotland before starting at Keele University in August 2006.

My previous interdisciplinary research and teaching experience (the urban, classical and contemporary social theory, sociology and geography) reflects my current interests concerning the interface between society culture and space. In particular I am interested in the development of spatial theories and social theories of space (including Marx, Simmel, Lefebvre, Harvey, Foucault, de Certeau, Massey, Cosgrove, Urry, etc.) and their application to the analysis and investigation of a number of substantive areas (the city, leisure/recreation, youth).

Similarly, a socio-spatial understanding of the urban as a key site and locus for modernity; social spaces of distraction and display, leisure and recreation; the rhythms and experience of everyday life across the life course; policy and practice in creating sustainable and ‘healthy’ cities.

Areas of interest include classical and contemporary social theory, urban studies, and the interface between space, culture and society.

Member of THE KEELE UNIVERSITY URBAN RESEARCH NETWORK working on a prospective project provisionally entitled Regeneration and Medium-Sized Cities: Community And Social Change In Stoke-On-Trent and North Staffordshire

From January 2010 I will be on research leave working in the area of urban research and regeneration. Specifically, I will be engaged on a preliminary investigation, research and capacity building on a project provisionally entitled:
Risky Spaces: Young Peoples Geographies Of Fear And Danger – A Case Study Of The West Midlands

Currently working on a research proposal with Mark Featherstone and James Hardie-Bick on Heterotopic Space in British Society: A Comparative Analysis of Three Contemporary Heterotopias

Sociology

• SOC 10016 Sport and Society
• SOC 20047: 20th Century Social Theory
• SOC 20040: City, Culture, Society – Module Leader
• SOC 30025: Streets, Skyscrapers and Slums: The Cultural Politics of the City
• SOC 30027: Space and the City - Module Leader
• SOC 30028: Dissertation - Module Leader
• SOC 40006: Social Theory

I also supervise undergraduate dissertations in Sociology, Geography and Media, Communication and Culture and dissertations at Masters Level