Joe Chick

Joe Chick is a historian with an interest in society in English monastic towns, defined as settlements in which a monastery was lord of virtually the whole settlement. These places have traditionally been characterised in terms of robust lordship and violent town–abbey relations, a portrayal that his work re-evaluates. In covering the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, his research crosses the traditional divide between the medieval and early modern eras. His ESRC-funded PhD project consisted of a detailed case study of politics, economics, religion, and culture in Reading. As an early career fellow in the IAS, he is building on this work to produce a more general monograph on monastic towns.

Nadeen Dakkak

My PhD research examined how migration to the Arab Gulf States is represented in Arabic fiction. I focused on Arabic novels tackling themes of alienation, social exclusion and/or belonging and that are set from around the 1970s onwards, the period which saw an unprecedented increase in migration to the Gulf region. Central to my analysis are the regional transformations brought about by oil and the impact of Gulf migration policies on migrant experiences.

My research interests extend beyond Arabic fiction and cover literature from/about the Gulf in English or in translation as well as literature and popular culture on migration and diaspora more generally. I am currently planning a new project that seeks to situate Arab literature on oil modernity and urbanization within the larger field of world literature.

Fiona Farnsworth

Fiona is an early career researcher in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies. Her doctoral thesis “Contemporary Literary Foodways Between Sub-Saharan Africa and the USA” explored foodways as both shaped and shaped by the sociopolitical power dynamics within the world-system – and, more specifically, the world food system. I seek now to extend my research to focus more explicitly upon issues of food sovereignty and the ways in which we might read food literature/literary food as resource fiction: and what might be at stake in studies of post/de-coloniality if we do not.”

Julia Gauly

I am a mixed methods researcher at Warwick Medical School with a keen interest in improving health services delivery. My PhD focussed on the optimisation of pharmacy-based sexual and reproductive health services using two approaches: the exploration of the utilisation and staff and users’ experiences of pharmacy-based sexual and reproductive health services. I am experienced in conducting systematic reviews and scoping reviews, retrospective quantitative studies and qualitative interview studies. As an early career fellow, I aim to further explore some of my PhD findings, e.g. on how to better address privacy in the pharmacy setting. Coming from a multi-disciplinary background in music and management studies, I look forward to meeting and collaborating with researchers from other disciplines in the future.

Martha Gayoye

My research interests are generally in courts, constitutionalism and gender in postcolonial contexts– specifically the role that constitutionalism plays in perpetuating or gender inequalities, or addressing gender inequalities, what I refer to as ‘gendered constitutionalism’. In this sense, I see a constitution as a double-edged sword. My PhD project was based on the two-thirds gender quota in Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, titled ‘The role of the courts in constitution making: The two-thirds gender principle in Kenya’. I see the role of courts and women’s movements as crucial in such a gendered constitutionalism, and explore decolonise and subaltern perspectives to constitutionalism.

Joseph Haigh

Joseph is an Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study and an ESRC-funded Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. His PhD thesis, Vicarious Militarism: Ontological (In)Security and the Politics of Vicarious Subjectivity in British War Commemoration, investigates the identity politics of remembrance. It explores the political and psychological motivations and stakes of attempts by Britons to promote/claim authentic military subjectivity by living vicariously through ancestral military connections. His broader research interests include British defence and security politics and debates at the intersection of International Relations, Critical Military Studies, Critical Security Studies, and Ontological Security Studies.

Nakita Hayden

My doctoral research explored the outcomes of siblings of people with intellectual (learning) and developmental disabilities, as well as their sibling relationships. This was a collaborative award with the Economic and Social Research Council and the UK charity Sibs, where I volunteer as their Research Associate. Although my thesis mainly drew on statistical analyses of large-scale survey data, I also have experience of using qualitative approaches. My disciplinary background is varied and has included: Psychology, Education, Psychosocial studies, Sociology, and Law. Therefore, I look forward to meeting Fellows from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and engaging with the interdisciplinary nature of the IAS Early Career Fellowship scheme.

Eva Jimenez Mesa

I recently completed my PhD thesis on the influence of word’s diversity across linguistic contexts on early word acquisition. Specifically, my thesis investigated the relation between the semantic richness in parental speech and language delay. I primarily analysed this relation though computational modelling, NLP, and network analysis. My thesis also examined the relation between some ASD characteristics (e.g., social disinterest) and word acquisition. My interest in language development comes from my experience as a speech therapist and special needs teacher. In future research I intend to integrate other computational approaches to my research, such as neural networks, to further explore early language delay.

Elmira Joldybayeva

Elmira is an Early Career Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies and PhD Candidate at the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. She is a recipient of the Republic of Kazakhstan's Presidential Scholarship under the Bolashak Programme. Her PhD thesis, ‘Kazakhstan, Nation Branding and National Identity: The Cases of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Astana Expo-2017’, examines the country's nation branding initiatives and their influence on its evolving identity. Prior to her doctoral study, Elmira was a senior university teacher and coordinator of international projects such as the G-Global Initiative.

Lorenzo Serini

Lorenzo is an IAS/IATL Early Career Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick. He obtained his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Warwick. His doctorate research explored the intersections between the ethics of belief and the emotions in European, post-Kantian philosophy, especially in the writings of Fredrich Nietzsche. His research interests include the following questions: What if some of the beliefs informing our way of life turn out to be questionable or altogether unbelievable to us? How are we to respond to the weakening of certainties or even to the loss of beliefs that seem to be fundamental to us? Should we cling to our beliefs, even though we may lack definite reasons to believe them? What are emotional biases? Or should we let go of them? And if we do let go of them, what are the consequences with respect to our wellbeing?

Throughout his doctorate, Lorenzo has been committed to improve his teaching practice and develop his profession as a teacher. He has completed the APP: PGR programme becoming Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has obtained the PGA TLHE qualification, engaging with recent pedagogical literature on teaching and learning in Higher Education (30 credits, distinction). Moreover, Lorenzo has recently won the Warwick Award for Teaching Excellence for Postgraduates who Teach (WATE PGR, 2020) and the Philosophy Department’s Teaching Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching (2019).