Sociology
PhD Researcher in Sociology (ESRC 1+3)
Social Science and International Studies, University of Exeter
Start date: September 2014
Research topic: Liminal illness: the experiences of young people with ME.
My interest lies in edges and boundaries, intersections and overlaps, and how we treat the people and things that inhabit these fuzzy, uncertain areas. I am currently exploring these issues in relation to chronic illnesses, especially conditions that are unpredictable, invisible, and/or contested. Such conditions refuse to conform to binary understandings of the world, making them difficult for us to conceptualise, understand, or even believe in.
My research focuses on ME/CFS in young people, and the impact that uncertainty and ambiguity has on their lives. This includes its episodic character, issues of in/visibility, dis/ability, and medical/classificatory ambiguity, and social responses.
Research supervisors: Dr Hannah Farrimond, Professor Susan Kelly
Email: lt328@exeter.ac.uk