Research Degrees Leader
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As Research Degrees Leader, Abby is responsible for managing student processes and activities including research skills training, research plan presentations and deadlines, Transfer of Status presentations, and Doctoral College events such as the research student conference. Her own research background lies in Screen Studies, and she supervises a number of students in connected disciplines at UCA.
Bio
Abby first joined UCA in 2019 as REF Officer, following her PhD studentship and work as a Research Assistant at the University of Winchester. As REF Officer she supported UCA’s 2021 REF submission, working with researchers to develop their research outputs and impact case studies. She later re-joined the RKEI team as Research Manager supporting academic staff with internal and external funding, career development and ethics processes.
Abby has also worked in a number of academic roles, including working at UCA as a Post Doctoral Teaching Fellow and Lecturer in Screen Studies. She has a PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her current role as Research Degrees Leader builds upon this range of experience, now taking a central role in supporting research degrees students across the university with their studies and future career development.
Research statement
Abby's specialism is in the horror genre. She completed her PhD studentship in Film Studies at the University of Winchester which focused on the representation of Nazis in contemporary horror films, using a psychoanalytic framework and close textual analysis in order to understand such films’ connection to pressing socio-political anxieties about the rise of the far-right, cycles of conflict and the misuse of science and technology. She has also published work on the representation of Nazis and fascism in the superhero genre and took part in a mentoring programme to co-produce a video essay focusing on Iranian horror and costume design. Her current research is particularly interested in perceptions of acting in the horror genre, and its intersection with both practical and digital effects.
Research supervision
Abby is interested in supervising PhDs within Screen Studies, including film, television and video games. She is particularly well placed to supervise projects focusing on:
- Genre studies, especially horror, fantasy and sci-fi.
- Representations of conflict and disaster.
- Practical and digital effects.
- Performance and acting studies.
- Adaptation.
- Video essay practice.
She has supervised two PhD students to completion and currently supervises the following PGR students at UCA:
- Anahita Fazaeli. Director of Studies. ‘Exploring the Developments of Ethnic Representation in British Children’s Television Programmes: A Case Study of Postman Pat’.
- Chantal Riekel. Director of Studies. ‘The Men with Many Names: Imagination and Poetics as New Forms of Engagement with the German Memory Culture’.
- Graham Seaton. Director of Studies. ‘The Photograph as Object’.
- Amy Etherington. Second Supervisor. ’Ending the World: A Trans Unsettling of Ontological Design as Framework and Horizon’.
- Fellow of Advance HE.
- Member of the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies.
- Member of the Association for Research Managers and Administrators.
Media enquiries
For media enquiries, please contact our Press Office Team: pressoffice@uca.ac.uk.