Research Interests

To date my research has centred around themes in critical social geography, informed through research with children, young people and families, focusing on geographies of education. For example, as an IRCHSS Postdoctoral Fellow (working on a project led by Dr. Valerie Ledwith) I completed research exploring the emergence of a two-tiered schooling system in Galway City and County in Ireland. This mixed-method project examined young peoples experiences relating to educational issues; including: access, participation, aspiration and attainment. The project also examined a variety of family, school and neighbourhood effects, to assess the influence of each on overall student experiences. The educational experiences of young migrants were also explored. This research is underpinned by a keen interest in social theory, and in particular the work of Pierre Bourdieu.

More recently my research has sought to engage student learning through a series of active and participatory projects. These projects seek to engage both undergraduate and postgraduate students as co-creators of knowledge and as active participants and researchers in fieldwork and data collection processes. This has culminated in an undergraduate Children’s Geographies Project at St. Patrick’s College Drumcondra, equipping students with skills to complete a mental-mapping methodology and allowing them to reflect on their positionality within data collection processes. Through active, field-based and student-led research this project endeavours to piece together a ’snapshot’ of childhood perspectives on spaces and places in Ireland. Transcending classroom learning, and by extension bridging the gap between theory and practice, I have been appointed as coordinator of an MA module entitled Field-Based Learning (TI 706). This module is part of the MA in Environment, Society and Development and aims to synthesise theoretical perspectives discussed in class with field-based practice. My research interest in this area (in association with Dr. John Morrissey) seeks to explore the relationship between theory and practice in the context of MA student fieldwork, completed on an annual fieldtrip to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

MA Teaching (Environment, Society & Development): 
TI702   Geography and Geo-Graphing

TI705   Managing Development

TI 706  Field-Based Learning

TI707   MA Dissertation

Undergraduate Teaching (Geography):
 
TI 251  Theory and Practice 1

TI252   Theory and Practice 2

TI229    Political and Cultural Geography 

SPL 309 Geographies of Children, Young People and Families