Kayleigh Powell
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of ExeterStart date: September 2018
Research topic: A quantitative study of educational outcomes for autistic students across England
Research supervisors: Jane Elliott, Alexey Bessudnov
Email: kp338@exeter.ac.uk
Elis Jones
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of ExeterStart date: September 2018
Graduation date: October 2023
Research topic: The value of coral reef research
The guiding question for my PhD project is ‘What role does value play in coral reef science?’. I am focused specifically on efforts to regenerate coral reefs. My aim is to produce an empirically-informed sociological and philosophical account of the roles played by value in coral reef science and practice. As well as theoretical analysis of the relevant scientific literature, I am also conducting interviews with coral scientists. My aim is not only to produce insights into why coral reefs are regarded as so important, but also into how science operates when its objects of study are considered valuable by scientists. This is an interdisciplinary project, combining elements of Sociology, Philosophy, Science and Technology Studies, and Marine Sciences.Research supervisors: Professor Sabina Leonelli, Professor John Dupre
Professional memberships/Positions held:
SWDTP Student RepEmail: erj205@exeter.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElisJones20
Dr Thomas Sealy
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of BristolStart date: September 2014
Graduation date: January 2019
Research topic: Identity and belonging: Multiculturalism and British converts to Islam
My research focuses on the issues of identity and belonging for British converts to Islam explored through narratives. I relate this to multiculturalism frameworks and debates in the context of Britain and am interested in religious identity, Islamophobia and processes of racialisation and ethnicisation, and religion and secularism.Research supervisors: Professor Tariq Modood, Dr Therese O'Toole
Professional memberships/Positions held:
BSA
BRAIS
South-West Reasearch CooperativeEmail: ts14569@my.bristol.ac.uk
Dr Owen Abbott
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
College of Social Sciences and International Studies, University of ExeterStart date: September 2013
Graduation date: November 2017
Research topic: The relationship between ethical structures, self-identity and morality
Research supervisors: Dr Nigel Pleasants
Email: oja203@exeter.ac.uk
Dr Lewis Coyne
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
Department of Sociology, Philosophy, and Anthropology, College of Social Sciences and International Studies, University of ExeterStart date: September 2013
Graduation date: April 2018
Research topic: A Defence of Hans Jonas’ Critique of Modernity and Ethic of Responsibility
My Ph.D. is an original interpretation and qualified defence of Hans Jonas’ ethical, metaphysical, and political philosophy. Firstly, I argue that the purpose of his theoretical system is tackling three ills of modernity: nihilism, the ecological crisis, and the threat to human dignity posed by certain biotechnologies. Secondly, I argue that his means of doing so is the rehabilitation of key aspects of Aristotle’s thought. The end result is a framework of norms and political institutions for governance in light of the above concerns.Current position:
I am an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Exeter. I am currently carrying out two research projects: the first is writing a monograph based on my Ph.D. thesis (forthcoming with Bloomsbury), and the second is developing a postdoctoral project on the meaning, value, and future of the human condition.Research supervisors: Professor Michael Hauskeller, Dr Edward Skidelsky
Email: lc453@exeter.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lewis-coyne-b66318125
Website/Blog: https://exeter.academia.edu/LewisCoyne
Dr Magda Mogilnicka
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC +3)
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of BristolStart date: September 2013
Graduation date: September 2018
Research topic: How Polish immigrants to the UK encounter 'racial' and ethnic difference
Research supervisors: Dr Jon Fox , Dr Therese O'Toole
Email: mm13687@bristol.ac.uk
Dr Philip Sayer
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of BristolStart date: September 2012
Graduation date: Marcg 2018
Research topic: A philosophical exploration of discourses which seek to prescribe acceptable forms of evidence for policy and governance
Research supervisors: Professor Gregor McLennan, Professor Thomas Osborne
Email: ps0532@bristol.ac.uk
Dr Natasha Carver
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Political Science and Sociology
School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of BristolStart date: September 2011
Graduation date: June 2017
Research topic: Negotiating immigration regulations on marriage-related migration to the UK - a Somali case study
Research supervisors: Dr Esther Dermott , Dr Katharine Charsley
Email: lc1428@bristol.ac.uk
Dr Celia Plender
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of ExeterStart date: September 2014
Research topic: ‘Self-help by the people!’ Politics, morality and change in British food co-ops
My research focuses on the changing nature of retail food co-ops in the UK, their political practices, social dynamics and visions of a better food system.Food is a productive lens through which to view the political and economic processes which have formed the contemporary food system, informed common-sense thinking about it, and impacted the lives and social worlds of the inhabitants of contemporary Britain. It can be used to enact visions of a more caring/moral political and economic system through the practices and structures of alternative initiatives such as co-ops. By analysing these visions my research explores contemporary British perceptions of concepts such as morality, citizenship and welfare.
Research supervisors: Professor Harry West, Dr Charles Masquelier
Professional memberships/Positions held:
Centre for Rural Policy Research, ExeterSOAS Food Studies Centre, London
Email: cp525@exeter.ac.uk
Dr Rosie Nelson
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC +3)
SPAIS, University of BristolStart date: September 2016
Graduation date: May 2020
Research topic: Bisexuality/Nonmonosexuality, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Social Justice Movement: A Queer Qualitative Intervention.
I am studying bisexuality/nonmonosexuality. Bisexual and queer studies suggest that nonmonosexual orientations experience monosexism and biphobia which alienates them from both heterosexual and homosexual spaces, leaving them with no communities to share experiences. My research proposes to interview bisexuals/nonmonosexuals in order to assess how they experience biphobia and monosexism in heterosexual and homosexual spaces. This will inform guidelines which I will put in place in an LGBT organisation with later interviews to assess the efficacy of this intervention.Research supervisors: Dr Therese O’Toole, Dr Maud Perrier
Email: rosie.nelson@bristol.ac.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosie-nelson-59825540
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roropanolo
Aimee Middlemiss
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of ExeterStart date: September 2016
Graduation date: July 2021
Research topic: Contested personhood in Second Trimester Pregnancy Loss in Britain
In England, the loss of a pregnancy in the Second Trimester, after 13 weeks’ gestation but before legally defined foetal viability at 24 weeks, often entails a process of labour, birth, and the possibility of an encounter with a recognizably formed foetal body. The ambiguity of this ending of a pregnancy, which is medically and legally defined as a miscarriage, but which some women experience as a stillbirth or neonatal death, places women in a liminal area in which this life event is not socially acknowledged. In this context, some women may make powerful claims to motherhood and the personhood of the foetus/baby that died. Others may wish for acknowledgement of loss which does not depend on defining themselves as mothers, or their foetuses as babies. My PhD is investigating women’s experiences of Second Trimester Pregnancy Loss in the South West of England using qualitative interviewing and ethnographic fieldwork. It draws on both reproductive sociology and anthropology to try to understand the interaction between personal experience and legal, medical, and other social discourse in this type of pregnancy loss.Research supervisors: Professor Susan Kelly, Dr Katharine Tyler
Email: am933@exeter.ac.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/almiddlemiss
Elena Sharratt
Sociology Alumni
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
College of Social Sciences & International Studies, University of ExeterStart date: September 2015
Graduation date: January 2021
Research topic: Embodiment and intersubjectivity within the online ‘Transabled’ community.
My research focuses on the online ‘transabled’ community. Often described as suffering from ‘body integrity identity disorder’ (or BIID), the individuals who make up this community share the collective desire to amputate a healthy limb, feeling that it does not belong to them. Informed by posthumanist, ANT and STS perspectives, I am investigating the ways in which being part of an intersubjective community shapes the narratives that surround this phenomena and how the experience of digitally mediated sociality informs notions of the body as hybrid and (re)makeable.Research supervisors: Professor Susan Kelly
Email: es488@exeter.ac.uk
South West Doctoral Training Partnership
