Meet the Team: Helen
This is a guest post from another team member, Helen!
So, Dimitra has asked me to introduce myself on the blog… Hello! I’m Helen and unlike the rest of the team I have a social science background. I’m currently a sessional lecturer in Marketing at Keele.
Much like our team captain Dimitra, I had some very clear career ambitions when I was younger. I wanted to be a vet, but again quite like Dimitra, I’m also not a big fan of blood (usually ending up me passing out if it’s my own!). So, being a vet didn’t seem like a very good career choice.
I decided to try hairdressing next and worked in a salon at the weekends for around seven years (a bit of a difference between the two professions, I know!). I really loved meeting so many new people and being creative.
However, around this time I finished my A-Levels and decided I wasn’t quite done learning. This led me to come to Keele to study Business Management and History with the intention of doing an undergraduate degree before getting a ‘proper job’, as my Nan would say. Fast forward a decade and two more degrees and I’m still here!
I’ve been very lucky to meet such wonderful people at Keele who have encouraged me to keep learning, despite my plan of leaving after the first degree. I finished my PhD in Management last October and have been teaching at Keele ever since.
My PhD research looked at how a local theatre’s outreach department engages with community and how the theatre could help to facilitate change in the local area. The theatre department uses some incredibly creative methods in trying to get people interested in their work. This led to me getting to join in with some really fun activities like piling into a life sized boat in the middle of a theatre stage and sitting in a tent on campus with people I’d just met!
Apart from having a great time p̶l̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ joining in with these activities, I developed an interest in creative methods of research during my PhD. I’m really passionate about making research fun, not only for the researcher, but also for everyone else taking part! Some of the methods I’ve tried and that I’m keen to try are photography, videos, drawing, poetry and dance.
So, after all of that, you’re probably wondering what my role in the project is! As you’ve probably guessed by now I enjoy talking to people, so I’ll be conducting interviews with prostheses users for the project. Based on these interviews I’ll help create the “Reading and Listening corner” of the exhibit and will be at the exhibition — hope to meet you there!
