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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Sarah has over 25 years working in organisational communications in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.  Her interests focus on how to bring about, understand, manage, and implement change.  Areas of expertise include:

  • organisational communications drawing on a range of sociological theories from the work of Bourdieu, Habermas, Bauman, Goffman, Foucault and more recently a range of feminist theories (in particular, radical feminism)
  • building belonging, community, and identification both inside and outside organisations drawing on the theoretical lens of sense-making and sense-giving 
  • exploring the sociology and evolution of the professions in an age of liquid modernity, with a specific interest in 'discourse work' such as public relations, public affairs, advocacy, and activism and is becoming increasingly drawn to metamodernism to reflect the reality of working in complexity
  • radical pedagogy to support graduates and those in the professions to build the sensibilities to navigate the precarity and liminality prevalent in late modernity
  • the role of the media in shaping and reflecting cultural norms

Key Publications

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • PR Power in the 1990s: Sex, sexuality, and sexism – a UK perspective, Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 2023, Women’s Work in PR, Emerald
  • Developing a Café Delphi historical method to study female experiences of sex, sexuality, and sexism in PR in the 1990s., Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 7 Jul 2022, 12th International History of PR Conference
  • Metamodern sensibilities: Toward a pedagogical framework for a wicked world, Bowman, S., Salter, J., Stephenson, C., Humble, D. 9 Dec 2022, In: Teaching in Higher Education
  • Women and Leadership in Public Relations and Communication Management: Developing a Rhizomatic Typology of Knowledge and Professional Development as an Ecological Radical Feminine Perspective, Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 5 Aug 2022, Towards a New Understanding of Masculine Habitus and Women and Leadership in Public Relations, London, Taylor & Francis
  • Internal crisis communication and the social construction of emotion: university leaders' sensegiving discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yeomans, L., Bowman, S. 20 Jul 2021, In: Journal of Communication Management
  • Twenty years of teaching Public Relations - Exploring a signature pedagogy for the field, Kinnear, S., Bowman, S. 24 Jun 2021, 11th International History of PR Conference, University of Boston
  • Using a meta-modernist and ecological lens to underpin professionalism: Establishing communications as a reflective and sustainable practice , Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 1 Jun 2021, A post-conference of the 2021 Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association
  • Developing a liminality competency for promotional work: Using process philosophy to understand the traits necessary in an age of liquid professionalism , Bowman, S. 2020, COMPLEXITY, HYBRIDITY, LIMINALITY: CHALLENGES OF RESEARCHING CONTEMPORARY PROMOTIONAL CULTURES
  • Public relations and communications, Roberts-Bowman, S. 1 Jan 2020, The Public Relations Handbook, Taylor & Francis
  • Public Relations and Communications, Bowman, S. 27 Oct 2020, The Public Relations Handbook, London, Taylor & Francis

Professional Activity

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Publication Peer-review: Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education (Journal) 2022
  • Publication Peer-review: Corporate Communications (Journal) 2021
  • Membership of committee: Chartered Institute of Public Relations (External organisation) 2020
  • Membership of committee: Chartered Institute of Public Relations (External organisation) 2020
  • Other: North East Sales and Marketing Academy 2020
  • Other: Examiner, PR Academy 2020
  • Consultancy: Project: Roll out of CDRC_Precision for the Academic Health Science Network 2019
  • Organising a conference, workshop, ...: 19th Annual Congress of the European Public Relations Research Association (EUPRERA) 2017
  • Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Global Tasks for PR: The role of defence, diplomacy and development, London College of Communiation 2016
  • Publication Peer-review: EUPRERA (Event) 2016

PGR Supervision

Gloria Walker Determining best practices in development communication: efficiency or effectiveness? An investigation into NGO communications practices in developing economies and their impact on participants in development projects Start Date: 01/03/2022

Qualifications

  • Philosophy PhD August 04 2017
  • Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy SFHEA 2021

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