About me

I am an interdisciplinary researcher, focusing on storytelling and identity construction in the context of international mobility. I am particularly interested in how people who migrated multiple times use language to construct 'places' in the narratives they tell about their experiences. My interest in this topic stems from my own experiences of multiple migrations – living, working, and studying in different countries throughout my life.

My thesis is supervised by Professor Stephanie Schnurr and Professor Steve Mann.

Sciences Po Paris (2011) and City University of Hong Kong (2010). Before joining the department, I spent close to a decade working on research, executive education, consulting, and international engagement projects in the non-profit and education sectors.

My research

Storytelling | Identities | Place | Mobility | Serial migration

Publications

Kakalic Y., Patrick M., Schnurr S. (in press) Exploring the gendering of professional mobility from the perspective of a non-elite migrant. In: Srivastava A., Maheshwari, D., Krishnan, C. (eds.) Subverting Social Inequalities: Gender as a Social Reality. CRC Press-Taylor and Francis Group.

Conference presentations

2024

• "Placing serial migrants: Rethinking nation-centric approaches to migrant identity construction" at the Migration, Identity, and Translation Network (MITN)Link opens in a new window seminar series.

• "Storytelling and identities: Telling ourselves into existenceLink opens in a new window" at the Pint of Science Festival.
• "Narratives of serial migration: Constructing identities and places" at the “Language and Onward Migration: Bridging Applied Linguistics with Migration Studies” BAAL and Cambridge University Press Seminar.
• "Storytelling and identities": Winner of the People's Choice Prize at the Warwick Research-Out-of-the-Box Postgraduate Research FestivalLink opens in a new window.
• "Exploring narratives of serial migrants" and the Language.Culture.Matters Seminar Series.

2023

• "Constructing 'place' in narratives of serial migration" at the 25th Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics.
• "Places and Identities" at the Festival of Doctoral Research. Research out-of-the Box.

I have also contributed to and co-authored a number of practitioner-oriented reports, which can be found hereLink opens in a new window.

Teaching

I have been teaching and delivering interactive workshops at Warwick since 2021.

I am a Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Department of Applied Linguistics, where I deliver seminars on the MSc in Intercultural Communication for Business and the Professions. My teaching has included:

• ET914 Globalisation and Diversity in the Workplace
• ET9A7 Public Relations Across Cultures
• ET9D7 Research Methods
• ET910 Exploring Professional Communication

I supervise MSc dissertations. Previous students have focused on identity construction, gender, social media, advertisement, film and TV, and cross-cultural adaptation; employed multimodal and discourse analysis, thematic and content analysis; as well as conducted interviews and surveys.

I am also a Senior Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Department of Computer Science, as well as a workshop facilitator for the Intercultural Training Programme Link opens in a new windowdelivered across the University campus.

Enhancing the student experience

Throughout my years at Warwick, I have had the chance to work on projects focused on making the University a welcoming and supportive place for staff and students. I am especially passionate about enhancing the student experience at Warwick. My work includes:

• Assistant Director of Student Experience and Progression for the Faculty of Arts (2024 - 2025).
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Research Assistant, Department of Applied Linguistics Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team (SAT) (2022-2023).
• Senior Research Officer, Monash Warwick Alliance Link opens in a new windowresearch project on the internationalisation of the student learning experienceLink opens in a new window.
• Chair (2021-2023) and member (2020-present) of the Applied Linguistics PGR Student-Staff Liason Committee (SSLC).

Research exchange

I feel it is important to build interdisciplinary research communities by creating spaces where scholars from interdisciplinary backgrounds can exchange ideas in an open and friendly setting. Some initiatives where I have worked on this have been:

• Co-founder of the Social Sciences Research Exchange GroupLink opens in a new window (SSREG).
• Project coordinator, Department of Applied Linguistics, Young L2 learners and games conference (2022-2023).
• Chair, 23rd Warwick International Conference in Applied Linguistics (WICAL) (2020-2021).