Biography

After working in various private sector jobs, I enrolled for a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Cultural Studies at Staffordshire University, where I graduated with a First in 1997. I stayed on to do an MA in Social and Cultural Theory after which I was awarded a scholarship to undertake my PhD. I completed my thesis on the media representation of law and order discourses in 2002.

Prior to my appointment at Keele in 2004, I held lectureships at Loughborough University and Staffordshire University and have spent time teaching and researching in Canada and Japan.

Research and scholarship

My research lies broadly in the area of media representation and discourses of social exclusion, and focuses specifically on theories of identity, multiculturalism and confession. My first book, The Search for Justice in a Media Age, 2005, examined two high profile cases: the US trial of British au pair Louise Woodward and the murder of Stephen Lawrence, in order to reveal how the organization of public discourse around a sacrificial figure intensifies patterns of social inclusion / exclusion. Further to this I have published peer reviewed articles and book chapters on the ever-shifting concept of British multiculturalism in the wake of the Macpherson inquiry report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, and on the representation of Muslims in the media. I have recently completed work on the Muslims in the European Mediascape project with my colleague Dr Elizabeth Poole, which examined media impact on social cohesion in Germany and the UK.

Following on from my work on discourses of exclusion, my current book project entitled The Culture of Confession, aims to trace the confession in religious, legal, therapeutic and public discourse in order to show how it remains central to the formation of knowledge and power relations over time and space. Part of this work reveals how the contemporary media have become central to confessional practices through popular reality formats.

I am a member of the Centre for Social Policy hosted by the Research Institute for Social Sciences, the Cultural Research Unit, and convene the Ethnicities and Migration Research Group.

I currently supervise PhD students working on the Iranian Diaspora; Turkish parental involvement in education; and online fan communities. I would be happy to hear from potential PhD applicants on any area related to my research.

Teaching

I teach across the Sociology and Media, Communications and Culture UG and PG programmes, including:

  • SOC-10009 Social Inequalities in the Contemporary World
  • SOC-30031 The Virtual Revolution: New Technolgies, Culture and Society
  • MDS-20019 Analysing Culture
  • MDS-40018 Globalisation, Culture, Media
  • MDS-40017 Contemporary Cultural and Media Theory

I supervise PhD students working on the Iranian Diaspora; Turkish parental involvement in education; and online fan communities. I would be happy to supervise PhD students on any area related to my research.

Publications

School of Humanities
Chancellor's Building
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5AA
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 733109

Head of School
Dr Nick Seager
Room: CBB1.038 (Chancellor's Building, 'B' Extension)
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 733142
Email: n.p.seager@keele.ac.uk

School and college outreach
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 734009
Email: outreach@keele.ac.uk