Departments, centres and people

Richard Ogden had been the Director of the HRC since January 2019. He manages the work of the HRC, ensuring it continues to serve its many constituents in the Arts and Humanities as fully as possible.

Richard Ogden is a professor of linguistics in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science. He is a linguist and phonetician with a wide range of interests, including Finnish, British Sign Language, and Conversation Analysis. His work combines phonetic detail (that is, the way the sounds of speech are organised) with conversation analytic methodology, as a way of working out how people use aspects of speech to perform social actions like turn-taking, agreeing, complaining and telling stories. His work also addresses connections between speech and other aspects of embodied behaviour. He is currently working on click (‘tsk’, ‘tut-tut’) sounds in spoken English.

Richard has worked in interdisciplinary ways for a long time, including the Marie Curie Research Training Network Sound to Sense; he has served on several steering committees, including the Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders at York and the centre for Deafness, Language and Cognition at UCL.

• +44 (0)1904 328123
• richard.ogden@york.ac.uk

Jonathan Finch is the Deputy Director of the HRC and started his post in September 2020, a role which includes responsibility for the post-graduate cohort across the faculty and supporting the Director.

Jon is a professor of historical archaeology in the Department of Archaeology. His research connects historic landscapes, rural poverty, slavery and commemoration under the broad heading of globalisation. He has written widely on designed landscapes of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, particularly Capability Brown and Humphry Repton. He has also written on estate landscapes in northern Europe, as well as their colonial connections in the Americas. His fieldwork has taken him from Harewood House, near Leeds, to the plantations of Barbados, and excavations at a First World War training camp in the Yorkshire Dales.

Trained as an historian, Jon has always been committed to interdisciplinary research. He was part of the Marie Curie European training network on the history, archaeology and genetics of the transatlantic slave trade, EUROTAST, and is on the steering group of ENCOUNTER – the European Network for Country House and Estate Research.

• +44 (0)1904 328123
• jonathan.finch@york.ac.uk

Craig has a PhD in Music Sociology from the University of Exeter, a MMus in Contemporary Music Studies from Goldsmiths College and a PGCE in Secondary School Music from Middlesex University. His PhD explored the role of music-making in post-conflict reconstruction in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Prior to joining the HRC, Craig was the Head of Research at Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy UK. He continues to be a Research Associate at the Min-On Music Research Institute (MOMRI) in Tokyo, Japan. Craig previously worked at York at the Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) in Politics in 2012 on Out in the Open, an interdisciplinary research project that examined the role of the arts in the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ events in North Africa.

As the Research and Development Manager for the Arts and Humanities, Craig engages with funders, partners and beneficiaries of the faculty’s research to understand their requirements and future trends and identifies and maps internal research capacities. He organises events and workshops to enable academic arts and humanities staff to develop ideas and collaborations; supports new research activities; advises on funders’ preferences and funding sources; engages with external partners to assess new collaborative interests; works with senior staff to development strategic priorities. Furthermore, Craig can help academic staff identify and secure external priming funds, generate proof-of-concept data and build relationships with potential collaborators.

• +44 (0)1904 328093
• craig.m.robertson@york.ac.uk

Sarah has an MA in Medieval Studies from University of York. Before coming to the UK, she spent five years as an associate with a private company in Winnipeg, Manitoba, researching aboriginal land claims in Canada. After completing her degree, she worked in the finance department of a local government authority before joining the HRC in October 2011.

Sarah provides expert research support for members of staff in the arts and humanities at York. Her main responsibility is to assist in the development and submission of research grant applications. This includes finding appropriate streams of funding, costing research projects, reviewing proposals, and helping with any administrative jobs related to the submission process.

All academic staff at York are invited to contact Sarah for advice and guidance at any stage of a proposal’s development.

• +44 (0)1904 328103
• sarah.burton@york.ac.uk

Jelena has a MSc from Acadia University, Canada and a PhD in Plant Biology from the University of Liverpool, UK. She worked as a researcher for a number of years in private companies and in several UK Universities. Before joining HRC in January 2021, Jelena worked in the University of York Finance Department providing support to Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences Faculties.

Jelena is a Research Coordinator working closely with Sarah Burton to provide pre- and post-award support to Arts and Humanities staff.

• +44 (0)1904 328130
• j.kusakina@york.ac.uk

Natalie shares the role of Faculty Impact Manager for the Arts and Humanities at York. She provides expert assistance to York’s arts and humanities departments regarding all aspects of research impact. She is always keen to hear from organisations and groups interested in collaborating with the University’s arts and humanities researchers. For more information about working days and the assistance Natalie can offer see her Google site.

Natalie has an MPhil in Screen Media and Cultures and a PhD in Italian Studies from the University of Cambridge. Her PhD looked at the relationship between space and gender in 1960s Italian film comedies (Cinema, Gender and Everyday Space, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). Before joining the HRC, she worked in research support at the University of Southampton, assisting researchers preparing funding applications and impact case studies, and taught Italian cinema and translation at the University of Leeds.

• +44 (0)1904 328122
• natalie.fullwood@york.ac.uk

Helen shares the role of Faculty Impact Manager for the Arts and Humanities at York. She provides expert assistance to York’s arts and humanities departments regarding all aspects of research impact. She is always keen to hear from organisations and groups interested in collaborating with the University’s arts and humanities researchers. For more information about working days and the assistance Helen can offer see her Google site.

Helen studied History at Cambridge, and took her PhD in Church History at King’s College London. Her PhD examined perceptions of gender in 18th-century English Christian rhetoric as a contrast to the actual religious activity undertaken by women in a variety of denominations. Helen is also a classically trained musician, active as a recital and accompanying pianist and piano teacher. Helen has worked at the University of York since 2014, in both research support and research student admin roles. In previous posts, she headed up undergraduate admissions at both Birmingham and Warwick universities. She can be found on Twitter as @helenjonesyork.

• +44 (0)1904 321961
• helen.jones@york.ac.uk

Rebecca shares the role of Faculty Impact Manager for the Arts and Humanities at York. She provides expert assistance to York’s arts and humanities departments regarding all aspects of research impact. She is always keen to hear from organisations and groups interested in collaborating with the University’s arts and humanities researchers. She has previously worked in impact roles at the University of Leeds and the University of Nottingham.

Rebecca completed her doctorate in History of Art at the University of York in 2018 and has previously held a Henry Moore Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. Her research explores visual allegory in the 18th and 19th centuries and how monuments occupied a unique space as a sanitiser of violence in imperial histories during this period. Rebecca is also currently a Paul Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and can be found on twitter @rebeccalsenior.

Megan has worked at the University of York, supporting research, since 2019. She joined the HRC in 2021.

Megan is responsible for the smooth running of activities and events in the HRC and is the first point of contact for students and staff. She administers the HRC facilities in the Berrick Saul Building, including allocation of desk space and lockers in the postgraduate study area and coordination of bookings for the Treehouse. She manages the HRC's finances and provides administrative support to the Director. Megan is also the Administrator of the Centre for Modern Studies, the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies, and the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies.

She is happy to help with enquiries about the HRC from academic and administrative staff within and beyond the University, current and prospective postgraduates and members of the public.

• megan.russell@york.ac.uk

Tracy has worked at the University of York since July 2015 and has recently joined the HRC team from the Biology Department since the beginning of September 2021. Tracy is a Research Coordinator working closely with Jelena Kusakina and Sarah Burton to provide pre- and post-award support to Arts and Humanities staff.

• tracy.morris@york.ac.uk

Joel joined the HRC team in November 2021, shortly after completing a PhD in modern Spanish history at the University of Sheffield. His doctoral research examined the simultaneously populist, authoritarian and technocratic political culture that emerged around infrastructure policy under the Primo de Rivera dictatorship (1923-1930). He worked as a translator in the Dutch higher education sector before starting his postgraduate studies.

Joel is responsible for supporting academics at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities with evaluating and evidencing the impact of their research. Working closely with Natalie Fullwood and Helen Jones, he can provide support for knowledge exchange and impact events, with a particular focus on planning evaluation. He is also responsible for collating and storing evidence to underpin future REF Impact Case Studies.

• joel.baker@york.ac.uk