Current PhD students
Please view PhD page for details of studentships available for study commencing September 2012
Christine Cassar
The psychological and embodied humanitarian workers' experience in the field
Research interests
Military intervention; transnational networks; complex emergencies; social production of space and contested spaces; Refugees and transnational groups; masculinities and femininities in military and humanitarian intervention; military policy and strategy; notions of legality and illegality; research methods and ethics in complex contexts; multifaceted understandings of citizenship.
Previous work includes working as a research assistant at the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (working within the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data on Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics). She also carried out original research on the Maltese diaspora in Michigan, understandings of European citizenship amongst exchange students and inter-culturally comparative online dating. At Cambridge she wrote work on the relevance of anthropological research in policy (focusing on military use of anthropology), and a dissertation in development anthropology, investigating international informal money transfer networks built by Somali refugees to send remittances to family members and relatives from Malta to Somalia.
Relevant work experience
I have worked extensively in human rights, as Amnesty International Malta Group’s Human Rights Education Coordinator (training children and teachers in conjunction with the Ministry of Education) and as Director of the People for Change Foundation (various projects and campaigns, including the United Nations Universal Periodic Review, and Civil Society Index). I have also worked with, and for, the International Ocean Institute Malta Operational Centre and the Commissioner for Children. I have volunteered in Cairo, Egypt and participated on a Millennium Development Goals project in Baroda and Delhi, India. In 2006 I was an advisor to the Maltese Permanent Mission at the United Nations on social issues, sitting on the Third Committee of the 61st UNGA. I am co-author of the Report on the Current Situation of Youth Representatives at the United Nations and author of the International Guide to Lobbying for Youth Representation at the United Nations General Assembly (both UN Program on Youth resource documents).
Previous education
MPhil in Social Anthropological Analysis from the University of Cambridge (Jesus College).
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Malta
Mateja Celestina
Understanding lived realities of the displaced in Colombia: identity, power and “home making”
My research focuses on Colombian conflict and internal displacement. It aims to explore the ways in which social divisions, identities that are either assumed or assigned, such as gender, race/ethnicity, class, age and IDP (internally displaced person) identity, inform the experiences of displacement.
Focusing mainly on most affected population in relative terms, Afro-Colombians, the experience of individual IDPs is put into three broader frameworks, examining the existing power relations. These are (a) the framework of interaction of individual IDPs with other IDPs, (b) the framework of IDPs’ interaction with the host and aid community and (c) the framework of structure, expressed through Colombian historical, economic, social and political context. Through this the concept and possibility of “home making” is inspected.
Research interests
My research interests are broad but the main one is the effect conflict has on people’s lives; in my master thesis I looked at child soldiering and DDR programmes and my current research is about internal displacement in Colombia. More precisely, I am looking at the experience of displacement and the difficulties of integration the displaced encounter in the resettlement area and the perceptions the receiving community (in majority of cases only indirectly affected by conflict) has of the displaced. My other research interests are conflict as experienced by different social groups (e.g. gender, age, ethnicity), (forced) movements of people, conflict theories and conflict resolution, relationship between humanitarian and development aid and their distribution and the conflict-security-development nexus.
Teaching experience/interests
My teaching interests greatly reflect my research interests. I would like to assist in modules/classes that deal with (forced) migration, gender, humanitarian and development aid, conflict resolution, etc. I am however, also happy to take on other topics.
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
The aims and research undertaken by HCRI greatly reflect my own interests. The numerous research areas (also geographically speaking) and the multidisciplinary approach that the Institute promotes have contributed to a broader and more complex understanding of current and past conflict related issues. For all the enumerated, I consider myself lucky to be able to take part in HCRI PhD programme.
Previous education
MSc International Development (Distinction), University of Birmingham, UK
MSc Political Science, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Caroline Delgado
Investigating the links between HIV/AIDS, armed conflict and emergencies
I wish to look at how HIV/AIDS can be framed within national security debates so that they best respond to humanitarian grief, demographic destruction and security threats likely to emerge in the future. The geographic focus is on Latin America, thus complementing the relatively rich research on HIV/AIDS and security from African countries.
Relevant work experience
My research interest stems from my previous work experience in health related international development projects. This includes working with resource development for reproductive health projects in developing countries and emergency settings with the UK based NGO Marie Stopes International, and marketing activities for HIV viral load monitoring in resource poor settings for a Swedish medical research company. I have also spent three years in Colombia, where I did an internship with the UNFPA and various consultancy assignments, including for the International Crisis Group.
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
I find the PhD programme offers an excellent opportunity to engage in in-depth research on the humanitarian and development related issues I have faced in my previous work. Its multi-disciplinary approach enables me to further explore the linkage between humanitarianism, development and global health.
Previous education
IMA International Humanitarian Action, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Post-graduate diploma International Terrorism, Uppsala University, Sweden.
Fernanda Falero Cusano
A Critical Anthropological Reading of Medical Emergency Humanitarian Assistance
My research proposes the use of anthropology –and its core methodology, ethnography- as a tool to the inclusion of individuals affected by a crisis -and the social framework that bounds them- in the emergency response. I will explore the understanding of the concept of emergency not as an isolated sudden occurrence that takes place in a given site, but as a process that results of the convergence of the historical, political economy, social and cultural particularities of a people, tackling as well the issue of vulnerability and risk. Main interest will be put at comprehending the shaping of actual humanitarian emergencies in urban settings. The study questions the notion of the universality and rightness of the Western model of humanitarian aid with its standardized processes and methodologies and the impact this has in the effectiveness of emergency responses.
Research Interests
Anthropology of humanitarianism, anthropology of disasters, medical anthropology, vulnerability studies, social sciences research in emergencies, bridging theory and practice (practitioners-researchers), non-Western models of aid, critical approaches to humanitarian aid, urban settings as rising humanitarian emergencies scenarios.
Relevant work experience
I have more than 11 years of humanitarian fieldwork experience in different countries with, mainly, an emergency medical humanitarian INGO.
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
HCRI multidisciplinary and bridging approach across subjects, practice and theory perfectly frames my research interests. HCRI and its links with the faculty of medicine gives and incredible opportunity to provide global medicine students with a wider vision and understanding of what it socially means to intervene in medical emergencies in different countries in the world. HCRI provides a very rich platform where theorists and practitioners meet, debate and exchange on current emergencies.
Previous education
MsC Humanitarian Studies, LSTM, University of Liverpool, UK (Distinction)
Jessica Field
Charity fundraising technologies
I am investigating the development and professionalization of charity fundraising in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Associated themes include, but are not limited to: “local” British humanitarianism, fundraising expertise, relational responsibility (to the distant “other”), the growth of British-based charitable organisations (such as Oxfam, Help the Aged etc), charity retail, and a focus on how urban environments and material culture have shaped gift-giving/donation in 20th century Britain. I am also interested in the applicability of Actor-Network Theory to this field.
Research interests
Fundraising technologies; Third Sector studies; charity history; cultural and political geography; organisational studies; material culture; modern British history (including post-colonial connections).
Teaching interests
I have worked with universities and schools teaching charity retail processes for several business-specific projects. Within an arts and humanities environment, I would be particularly interested in teaching on humanitarian / charitable aspects of modern history (or modern British history in general); research methods for historical study; spaces/places of humanitarian action and relational responsibility; spatially reading urban (humanitarian) environments.
Relevant work experience
I currently work as a part time manager for an Oxfam charity store, where I ensure the efficient management of operations and staff; roll out new projects; direct fundraising events; and roll out shop-specific projects aimed at increasing income and/or engaging the community. I also have experience in blogging and social media communications for various charities.
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
I decided to continue study from an MA to a PhD at HCRI because there are many opportunities to be actively involved in this exciting institution: from events planning, to panel presentations and even collaborations on wider projects. The Institute has developed fantastic links with other academic and field-based partners and these relationships are developing all the time – there seems to be so much more movement in HCRI than in any other department. Moreover, from an academic perspective the HCRI opens a window into an area that has been little studied until now… the researcher’s dream!
Previous education
MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, The University of Manchester
Spanish (Level B2 of the Common European Framework)
BA (hons) History
Amanda McCorkindale
Humanitarianism and Education: Exploring Interdisciplinary Approaches to Humanitarian Education
My research is exploring the ways, and extent, to which humanitarianism is being taught within secondary schools in England.
I am a trained secondary school teacher who has taught within the United States and Scotland. While teaching I found that students were eager to engage with charitable campaigns however this resulted largely in monetary contributions [in the forms of bake sales or non-uniform days] with little attention paid to the students’ academic engagement with wider humanitarian issues.
My research will explore the roles of the teachers, schools and organizations (national/international governmental and non-governmental) in supporting and providing humanitarian education at the secondary school level.
Research interests
My research interests within humanitarian fields include:
• Development education
• Rise of modern day humanitarian organizations -- History of humanitarianism
• Role of the military in humanitarian response
• Sociology of disaster response
Teaching interests
Wider research/teaching interests include:
History:
• US History - Native American culture & heritage, colonialism, revolution, founding fathers & creation of a new nation, expansion & reforms, industrialization, inter-war period (roaring 20’s and the Great Depression), WWII, post-war America, Cold War politics, contemporary American society.
• History of Medicine
Sociology:
• Sociology of AIDS
• Sociology of Education within Britain/America
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
The institute's multidisciplinary approach provides a conducive environment for both research and supervision. I am able to work with top academics/practitioners within HCRI, throughout the university and the wider global network available. My research benefits from this multidisciplinary perspective that HCRI offers.
Previous education
MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response, Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute
MSED (Distinction) in Secondary Social Studies Education, Hofstra University, NY, USA
BA (Hons) History major Sociology minor, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
Obi Ojimiwe
Rolling Back Malaria: conceptual problems in the control of malaria in Nigeria
My research focuses on the approaches adopted in the last 10 years by the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partnership for controlling malaria in Nigeria. The study examines the role played by different institutions at the local, state and national levels to control malaria, and seeks to determine the socio-political factors that limit the chances of success in fighting the disease
The study conceives malaria as a problem of development and as such, also examines the problems encountered by the state in Nigeria as it navigates the current global development agendas in such a vital area as disease control. A key focus of the study is thus to understand the socio-political outcomes produced by the interface between development intervention and the intervention of the Nigerian state in the control of malaria.
Research interests
African History, Power Studies, the State, Urban Politics, Development Studies, Medical Anthropology, Race and Ethnicity
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
Undertaking a PhD at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute is a greatly rewarding experience. The multi-disciplinary approach has meant that access is provided to a large pool of expertise right across the University of Manchester. Regular ESRC/HCRI seminars have also greatly enriched my research experience.
Previous education
M.A Politics and Contemporary History, University of Salford, Greater Manchester
B.Sc. Political Science, University of Lagos, Lagos Nigeria
Diane Tang
Engaging civil society as a peacebuilding agent by the Chinese state
My proposed area of PhD research is in engaging civil society as peacebuilding agents by the Chinese state – both within its border for conflicts involving its ethnic minority groups, and also externally as a humanitarian aid donor, policy advisor, or peacebuilding programme funder/facilitator in civil war or post-conflict situations.
Relevant work experience
I worked in World Vision Hong Kong as a Program Officer to oversee projects mainly in Africa and South Asia. It involved reviewing proposals and monitoring emergency relief projects and community development programmes, covering sectors such as food security, water & sanitation, health, and education.
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
HCRI is in a unique position in partnering with practitioners and NGOs in its academic research, giving students wonderful opportunities to have interactions with leading organizations in the industry, which makes our research much more exciting. Also, the staff and students bring a wealth of different experiences with diverse academic interests, which creates a stimulating and conducive environment for research.
Previous education
Master of Social Sciences in Development Studies at City University of Hong Kong
BBA in Global Business & Operations Management at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Alice Tligui
Food Aid in the Forties
My research explores factors and personalities that have influenced the development of the food aid "response system".
I am working on the second world war period, looking at:
- How the experience of war time influenced public and professional opinion in terms of humanitarian support to "distant strangers".
- How different groups perceived and responded to the problem of starvation in war affected countries.
- How these different groups interacted and so contributed to the development of the post-war food aid response system.
- Practical innovations in food aid practice.
Research interests
The social and cultural history of relief work; the practical and political architecture of food aid; interactions between supply, distribution and public information with respect to food shortag;, the development of "the humanitarian system"; civilian and military interactions in post-conflict situations; social network theory; cosmopolitanism.
Relevant work experience
I have 17 years experience as a project, programme and executive manager covering relief, logistics, livelihoods, human rights and refugee affairs. I work as an independent advisor to a number of organisations in the British voluntary sector working on strategic development, organisational development/capacity building, monitoring and evaluation and as a grants assessor. I work mainly on refugee and migrant support, community cohesion, youth work, mental health and domestic violence. I am the Comic Relief Regional Advisor for North West UK.
Why I'm doing a PhD at HCRI
HCRI with its contingent of excellent historians working alongside active humanitarian practitioners is a really interesting environment for me as a practitioner exploring hisotrical aspects of humanitarian aid. HCRI helps to keep me focussed on the big questions and do work that feels relevant to contemporary practice.
Previous education
BA (Hons) English Language and Literature, University of Manchester.