My profile

Biography

I’m an Irish woman living in the UK. My only cultural stereotype is a love of literature; I originally went to University to study English but eventually the Social Sciences consumed me. Now I read literature for pleasure, and my particular favourites are Anne Enright, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Margaret Atwood and Jhumpa Lahiri. 

Teaching

Why do I teach?

I teach because I love it. I remember the great teachers I had throughout school and university and hope I can live up to the great example they set me.

Research outputs

My scholarly work to date has been to understand inequality through an intersectional approach, acknowledging not only socio-economic barriers but also racism, migration status, life-course and gender, especially in relation to youth and conceptions of childhood and adolescence. My work is rooted in a child-centred methodological approach and increasingly methods of co-production. I am a scholar of psycho-social attributes such as authenticity and resilience, as they are applied to policy. I am currently engaged in developing the Migration and Families Research Network which brings together academics and policy makers to examine policy and law reform to migration as it relates to the family.

My theoretical interests include the work of Bourdieu, Abdelmalek Sayad, Phenomenology, Critical Race Theory and Gender Studies.