Dr Saba Hussain, Lecturer in Sociology Saba is a Lecturer in Sociology and a member of Global Learning Education, and Attainment (GLEA) at Coventry University. She teaches modules around Race, Global Inequalities, and Youth. Her research looks at issues of identity within educational contexts. Most recently she has been looking at challenges to education posed by the rise of far-right populism across the world. This article summarises some of the research that was a part of a special issue on Righ-wing populism she co-edited for the British Educational Research Journal. You can read Saba and R ..read more

Politics Lecturer Mark Goodwin has a chapter in the recently-released volume by Siefken and Rommetvedt. Cover for Parliamentary Committees in the Policy Process (2021) Mark writes: Rupert Murdoch being attacked with a custard pie. Sir Philip Green asking MPs to ‘stop staring’ at him. Dominic Cummings comparing the serving Prime Minister to a broken shopping trolley and accusing the serving Health Secretary of habitually lying about the government response to COVID-19. These are just some of the highlights of recent meetings of committees of the UK Parliament, a subject on which Dr Mark Goodwin ..read more

Sociology Lecturer Marcus Maloney has written about gaming during the pandemic for [lock.on] a Gaming Journal vol. 1 (reproduced here with permission). Writing for The Age newspaper during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian sociologist, John Carroll, observed of Melbourne’s especially harsh lockdown that it had reduced his city to a ‘colossal vacancy… the buildings and streets dead, like the set of an eerie science-fiction film about the end of the world, but this time it’s real.’ Emptied of the taken-for-granted social interactions and cultural activities that constitute everyday life, to ..read more

Currently showing over at https://covdegreeshow.coventry.ac.uk/ is an online exhibition of work by Arts and Humanities graduates from Coventry University. It features emerging talent from language, thought, and creativity, as well as a series of conversations between graduates and leading industry practitioners. In the Degree Show, we are proud to showcase a sample of the work being produced in our School.  In the School of Humanities we have three sections on the website, within which you will find examples of the creative and critical thinking of which our graduates are capable.&n ..read more

At the end of their BA International Relations degree, several of our students took part in the Model NATO event organised by the British International Studies Association – and won the 2022 Cecil Angel Cup. Below, students reflect on their involvement. The Model NATO team and their lecturer, Dr Felix Roesch, winners of the 2022 Cecil Angel Cup. Catarina Dinis: During the last year of my Bachelor’s degree in International Relations, I had the privilege to represent Coventry University at the ModelNATO organized by the British International Studies Association that took place in the Foreign, Co ..read more

Do female MPs in the House of Commons gravitate towards different policy areas compared to male MPs ? This is the question that Dr Mark Goodwin, Lecturer in Politics, School of Humanities, addresses in a new paper “Electing to do Women’s Work? Gendered Divisions of Labour in UK Select Committees 1979-2016” , recently published in the Politics and Gender  journal of the American Political Science Association. The article finds that despite a huge increase in the overall number of female MPs in Parliament across the period studied (rising from less than 5% in 1979 to 30 ..read more

Andrew Preshous is an Assistant Professor in Academic English and recently ran a COIL project for Brazilian students and a cohort of international students from Coventry University. The project aims were for participants to exchange information about academic life and their own cultures. He writes: Last week I was lucky enough to be in Anápolis, Brazil on Tuesday and New York on Friday. But only virtually, of course. Luiz (our Brazilian partner), Federica (my CU colleague) and I were attending events beamed remotely from those two locations and giving presentations about our COIL (Collaborati ..read more

Please email Chris Smith on ac5356@coventry.ac.uk for Zoom/location details! Matthew Alford – title TBC – 7th October 2021 Matthew is an expert on the Hollywood entertainment industry and its links US Foreign Policy, the military infrastructure and military propaganda in the US. He has published widely on this subject area including a co-authored monograph, with Tom Secker, entitled National Security Cinema (2017). Edda Nicolson – title TBC – 4th November 2021 Edda Nicolson, a PhD candidate at Wolverhampton, who is conducting research on the General Federation of Trade Unions during ..read more

Dr Emma Sheppard, Lecturer in Sociology The recording from the launch of Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia: Strategies for Inclusion has been released. I spoke at this event as I have a chapter included in the book – alongside the editor and other contributors. You can watch our presentations here: My chapter, “I’m not saying this to be petty”: reflections on making disability visible while teaching explores my experience of discussing my disability with students as a part of my teaching practice, and the social structures and relationships which shape how I do that and how students an ..read more

Mirai My name is Mirai Norihara, and in addition to being a second year Sociology student, I am a Japanese language tutor at World Languages, in the Centre for Global Engagement. The tutor experience has been unique because all was online- from completing the training program to obtaining my EUROLTA certificate in teaching and delivering my classes. When I started as a tutor in October 2020, I had three courses (A1 Beginners and A1 + Post Beginners) and I have taught Japanese to around sixty students at Coventry University so far. If I include my experience of teaching students from friendship ..read more