Dr Natalie Calder is a Postdoctoral Research Associate on the Leverhulme-funded Whittington’s Gift: Reconstructing the Lost Common Library of London’s Guildhall (2020-2023).  The project is a joint venture between the University of Kent and Queen’s University Belfast: Dr Ryan Perry, Senior Lecturer in the School of English at Kent is the Primary Investigator; Dr Stephen Kelly, English Subject Lead and Senior Lecturer in AEL at Queen’s is the Co-Investigator on the project.  

Leanne is a Research Fellow in Language Policy on the AHRC Modern Languages Leadership Fellowship Language Policy Project ‘Foreign, indigenous and community languages in the devolved regions of the UK: policy and practice for growth.’  She is undertaking research into education policy in relation to language learning and is particularly interested in language learner aspirations in relation to curriculum and assessment at post-primary level.  Her research shows serious inequalities in the provision and practice of language learning and in uptake of languages qualifications beyond the compulsory phase.  

Dr. Shonagh Hill is a Research Fellow (AHRC funded) in AEL working on ‘Generations and Feminist Temporalities in Contemporary Northern Irish Performance’. The study encompasses theatre, performance art and dance that have taken place in NI in the last five years. These performances will provide the context for investigation of the complexity of feminist histories in NI, which will concomitantly expand discussion of identity and community. Shonagh was previously a Marie Curie Fellow at QUB (2020-2022). Her project, ‘Generational Feminisms in Contemporary Northern Irish Performance’ (GenFem) examined the embodied experiences of different generations of women in Northern Ireland, as well as their differing relationships to feminisms: both feminist movements and feminist ideas as they circulate within culture. The PaR also investigated working practices that address the tensions and solidarities of intergenerational relationships.