Dr Carol Stephenson
PhD, BSc
Programme Director and Principal Lecturer in Sociology
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Contact details: Dept of Social Sciences Northumbria University Lipman Building Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST Tel: +44 (0)191 227 3413 carol.stephenson@northumbria.ac.uk |
Biography
Carol joined the University of Northumbria in 2001 having previously worked at the University of Sunderland. Prior to teaching and researching in Higher education she worked as a researcher in a wide range of settings; in the National Health Service, in Community Development settings in the West End of Newcastle and in the former mining community of Ashington in Northumberland; within the trade union movement for TUSIU (The Trade Union Studies Information Unit).
Born and brought up in the North East of England in the Steel community of Co. Durham, Carol’s research interests are shaped by biographical experience and biographical research strategies have defined her approach to research.
Qualifications
- PhD 'Worker Consent to Lean Flexible Production in a Depressed Regional Economy: A case study examination of two companies operating a JIT system', University of Sunderland 1994
- BSc Sociology and Social Science, Newcastle Polytechnic 1987
Research and Consultancy
Research Interests
Social class; work and employment; mining and mining communities ‘post industrial’ communities, gender and class inequality; biographical research methodologies
Research Projects
Carol’s research has had two inter-related foci:
(A) The regeneration and transformation of mining communities following de-industrialization. This work explores how community and union activists are seeking to maintain occupational and class identity despite mine closure. It explores activists’ attempts to stimulate/reproduce a collective memory of occupational heritage in order to stimulate the regeneration of depressed communities. This has led to collaborative and comparative work with other institutions, most notably St Mary’s University, Nova Scotia, Canada. A British Academy Grant was awarded to support this research in 2003 and a second stage of field research was carried out in Cape Breton, June 2005.
(B) An exploration of the life narratives and legacies of women active in the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike with Jean Spence (University of Durham) and Monica Shaw (University of Northumbria). Research focus on life-history, motivation, politicization and activism in the years prior to and following the dispute.
Teaching and Learning
Carol is currently working with Jamie Harding (University of Northumbria) on a staff/student collaborative project into effective small group/seminar work.
Publications
Journal Articles
Wray D. and Stephenson C. (forthcoming 2012) 'Standing the Gaff: Immiseration and its consequences for the post industrial mining communities of Cape Breton Island' Capital and Class
Spence J. and Stephenson C. (2012) 'Pies and essays: Activist women Writing through the 1984/5 British Miners Strike' Gender, Place and Culture (available now on iFirst)
Spence, J. and Stephenson, C. (2009), '"Side by side with our men?" Women’s activism, community and gender in the 1984/5 British Miners Strike' International Labour and Working Class History (Special Edition, Rethinking the Left) 75(1): 68-84.
Spence, J. and Stephenson, C. (2007), The politics of the doorstep: Female survival strategies and the legacy of the Miners’ strike of 1984/5, Community, Work and Family 10(3): 309-327
Spence, J. and Stephenson, C. (2007), 'Female involvement in the miners’ strike 1984/5: Trajectories of activism' Sociological Research Online Volume 12(1).
Stephenson, C. and Wray, D. (2005) 'Emotional regeneration and community action in post industrial mining communities' Capital and Class (special edition: the Miners Strike 20 Years On) 87, Autumn: 175-201
Mellor, M. and Stephenson, C. (2005) 'The Durham Miners’ gala and the sprit of community' Journal of Community Development 40(3): 343-352
Dodds, L., Mellor, M. and Stephenson, C. 'Industrial identity in a post-industrial age: resilience in former mining communities' Northern Economic Review 37, Summer: 77-91
Stephenson, C. and Stewart, P. (2001) 'The whispering shadow' Sociological Research Online Nov. 2001
Books
Erickson, M., Bradley, M., Stephenson, C. and Williams, S. (2009) Business in Society Cambridge: Polity Press
Bradley, H., Erickson, M., Stephenson, C. and Williams, S. (2000) Myths at Work Cambridge: Polity Press
Book Chapters
Spence J and Stephenson C. 'Creative agency and political consciousness: women’s texts of 1984-5 miner’s strike' in Digging the Seam: 25 years after the Miners' Strike 1984-5. Cambridge Scholars Press
Teaching
Carol's teaching focuses on work and employment; community; post industrial communities; class, race and gender inequality; social theory; and visual sociology.
Carol currently teaches on the following modules:
- Foundations of Social Theory
- Contemporary Social Theory
- Life Stories (exploring the role of biography within sociology)
- Culture, Power and Identity
- Inequality, Diversity and Conflict
- Images of Identity (visual sociology)
Key Roles and Responsibilities in the Department
Carol is Programme Director for the student experience.
Esteem Indicators
- Keynote speaker at the following:
- Spence J. and Stephenson C. Trajectories of female activism after the Miners’ Strike 1984/5, Working Class Studies National Conference, University of Durham, March 18th, 2005
- Spence J. and Stephenson C. Trajectories of activism among mining women: The 1984-5 Miners Strike BSA Conference, University of York, March 21-23rd, 2005
- Stephenson C. and Wray D., Occupational Identity, Class, Gender and emotional regeneration in the former Durham Coalfield, University of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 10th June, 2005.
- Spence J. and Stephenson C. Mining Women Activists and the Concept of Community. European Social Science History Conference, March 2006, Amsterdam.
- Spence J and Stephenson C. “Creative agency and political consciousness: women’s texts of 1984-5 miner’s strike”, in Digging the Seam: 25 years after the Miners Strike 1984-5. Leeds University.
- Member of the Institute of Learning and Teaching (since 2000).
- Group Etude Research Permanente Pour International Salaride Automobile (GERPISA).
- Associate of the Centre for Teaching and Learning
- Editorial Board of the teaching and learning journal, EMERGE
- Awarded two Applauding Teaching Awards, one in 2009, which is funding research with students and staff on effective small group/seminar work
PhD Students Supervised
- Tam Ryan 'Finding the Plot: A Critical Labour Psychology of Ethnicity and British Trade Unionism' (principal supervisor) - due to submit summer 2011
