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Personal statement

I am Professor of Feminist Media Studies and Head of Department of Humanities. I have been at Strathclyde since 2018, having previously held positions at the Universities of Stirling (Professor of Feminist Media Studies), Glasgow (Senior/Lecturer in Film & Television Studies) and Wolverhampton (Lecturer in Women's Studies). 

My research has long focused on questions of violence, gender and representation: my most recent books are (Palgrave, 2024) and the (co-edited with Susan Berridge and winner of the ). Recent articles have appeared in , and I am currently working (as editor) on the Routledge Companion to Gender, Violence & Popular Culture (forthcoming 2026). Earlier publications include Media and Violence: Gendering the Debate (Sage 2005) and, as editor,  Everyday Pornography (Routledge 2010). I have additional research interests in media audiences, gender and news, and the women's movement in Scotland.

Recent funded projects include a BA/Leverhulme small grant project on the use of Trigger Warnings in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (with Melanie McCarry) and a Scottish Universities Insight Institute Project on (with Talat Yaqoob from Pass the Mic). The SUII project built on with Talat Yaqoob and Melody House. I was Scottish coordinator for the (2015, 2020) and, in 2018, I led a Royal Society of Edinburgh-funded Workshop series on Tackling Gendered Inequalities in Scottish News, which led to the foundation of Gender Equal Media Scotland (the forerunner of the ), a grouping of academics, journalists and activists working towards gender equality in Scottish media. 

On the teaching side, I contribute to the MSc in Applied Gender Studies and supervise Masters students across Gender Studies and Media and Communication. 

I am an experienced PhD supervisor and examiner and welcome applications from new students working in the broad areas of feminist film, television and media studies; gendered violence and representation; audience research and genre studies; and interdisciplinary feminist approaches to gender and violence.

I have supervised 20 PhDs to completion including two AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Awards (one with Glasgow Film, the other with the Scottish Football Association). Other completed PhDs include projects on: scandal and reputation in sexual assault cases; #MeToo in English and Francophone literature and film; Women’s Aid networks and anti-domestic abuse activism in the UK, 1971-1996; gendered election coverage; forensic crime drama; female atheleticism in cinema; sexual violence in teen television; queer relationships in teen film; lesbian representation in contemporary horror; masculinity and surveillance in the serial killer film; female cannibalism in film & literature; rape discourse on social media; feminist anti-violence campaigns in Scotland; as well as two-practice based projects, one using the audio-visual essay to explore female performance in film, the other a novella series exploring women's experiences of violence over time. 

I am the Chair of Sub-Panel 34 (Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management) for REF2029, having served as Deputy Chair for the same panel in 2021. I am an elected member of the Media Communication and Cultural Studies Association () Executive Committee (2014-2026) and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.