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Biography

I returned to education after years bringing up a family, running a charity and being a school governor – unfortunately the charity work had to go in order to commute to university where I gained my degree, Masters and Ph.D in Medieval History. After a British Academy Post-doctoral Fellowship, I have worked as a lecturer at UEA where I have recently taken over running the Centre of East Anglian Studies (CEAS). Along the way I have also held a Teaching Fellowship and I am currently a Business Fellow at UEA. I am passionate about communication – whether the fruits of research through conference papers and articles (and the book when I get time to finish it!), teaching or public engagement activities.  

What motivated you to engage with the public?

CEAS has had a public engagement remit for over 40 years and I am enjoying the opportunity to take the best of that experience and use, adapt and develop it to meet the needs of both the university and the wider world in the modern political climate. In its widest definition, history and heritage is the most popular leisure activity in the UK at present but there is still a vast gulf between what takes place in academic research forums and what is presented to the public. I believe that we have a fantastic opportunity to engage, inspire and enthuse people to think about the past, and therefore about the present and the future.