New RGU researcher to make her mark in Applied Social Studies
Tuesday 11 December 2018
Alice Butler, a human geographer with a varied social science background, has recently been welcomed to RGU’s School of Applied Social Studies, where she has taken up a new role as Research Assistant.
This post will see her enhance the School’s research capability by developing and delivering projects that fit with its research interests, while also offering support for her colleagues’ endeavours.
It is an exciting step into further academia for Alice, whose education has taken her back-and-forth across the Atlantic.
After completing undergraduate degrees in Middle Eastern Studies and French at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, she returned to the UK to complete an MA in Politics at Lancaster University.
Alice has now submitted her PhD in Human Geography at the University of Leeds, which focuses on her keen interests in the marginalisation and stigmatisation of people, places and poverty, and a fascination with the way that people view others in society.
Speaking on her new appointment at RGU, Alice said: “I am thrilled to be joining Robert Gordon University and have received such a warm welcome from everyone at the School of Applied Social Studies.
“There is a real excitement about the projects I’ll be working on and I hope that I can develop an even stronger research profile for the School, delivering impactful and globally recognised research.”
Alice’s first project will be a collaboration with Associate Head of School Janine Bolger on understanding the impact of 50 years of social work education at RGU. The project involves examining how the University prepared students for their careers; analysing how the profession has changed over the decades; and looking to ascertain the impact on those individuals and communities who came into contact with social work students and graduates.
Alice added: “I am also putting together plans for a project on the discourse of denigration on social media, which follows on from a previous study I completed, looking into how and why people use denigrating descriptions of places in the UK and Ireland.”
Stephen Vertigans, Head of RGU’s School of Applied Social Studies, said: “It has been a real pleasure to welcome Alice to the University. I am looking forward to seeing the impacts that Alice’s research will have both across the School and beyond.”