Edmund Coleman-Fountain
Lecturer

Profile

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Sociology, having joined the department in 2023. I began studying Sociology at the University of Aberdeen (2000-2004) before completing my Master's and PhD at Newcastle University (2004-2011). Following my doctoral studies, I held post-doctoral positions at Newcastle University (2011-2013), and the University of York (2013-2016). I gained my first lecturing position at Northumbria University (2016-2023).

My research has been successfully funded by major bodies, including the British Academy, ESRC, and NIHR. I have published in various journals and edited collections and publised two monographs: Narrative Identity and Lesbian and Gay Youth (Palgrave, 2014) and Disabled Childhoods: Monitoring Differences and Emerging Identities (Routledge, 2016, co-authored with Janice McLaughlin and Emma Clavering).

My teaching is driven by my core research interests in disability, sexuality, gender, health, body and embodiment, and qualitative methods. I welcome enquiries from prospective postgraduate research students interested in exploring any of these themes through qualitative or creative methodological approaches.

Departmental roles

Impact and Knowledge Exchange Lead

Research

Overview

My core research interests lie at the intersections of Disability Studies and Genders and Sexualities. These two fields inform a focus on the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ and disabled people, particularly younger adults, and how they navigate social policies, services, and personal identities. My work seeks to develop critical insights into the impacts of policies, while amplifying the voices and perspectives of people themselves regarding their lives, identities, and what matters to them. This research has been supported by major funding bodies, including the ESRC, British Academy, and NIHR.

Methodological and Theoretical Approaches
My scholarship is informed by critical insights from Disability Studies and Queer Studies, alongside broader sociological theory. Methodologically, my research is committed to ethical and innovative qualitative approaches that privilege participant voice. I have extensive experience in employing co-creation methods - working with participants to collectively shape research questions and outputs - alongside narrative methods and visual methods for exploring facets of identity, lived experience, and social policy.

Projects

Current and Ongoing Research

ESRC-Funded Disability and Youth Transitions Study (Co-Investigator)

This major three-year collaborative project, undertaken with colleagues at the University of Glasgow and Newcastle University, explores the diversities and inequalities in disabled young people's transitions from childhood to adulthood. Our central concern is to provide a longitudinal understanding of the contemporary experience of transition from the perspectives of a range of disabled young people, utilising qualitative and creative methods.

YouDiSA: European Collaboration

I am an active participant in the ongoing YouDiSA collaboration, which brings together international partners to investigate barriers and paths towards sexual autonomy for young disabled adults across Europe. This work aims to develop opportunities for comparative research and policy engagement. Pump-priming funding for this collaboration was kindly provided by the British Academy and supported the development of a EC Horizon application.

Completed Projects

I have successfully led and contributed to major projects investigating the lived experiences of young disabled adults at the intersection of policy and identity. This includes leading an NIHR School for Social Care Research funded project (2020-2024) which used co-production principles to explore the intersections of gender, sexuality, and disability in social care. I served as a Co-Investigator on the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) funded study, 'What About Me?’ People with Learning Disabilities Living on the Edge of Support (ended 2025), which provided qualitative insights into the lives of people with learning disabilities living outside of formal social care provision. I was a NIHR SSCR Research Fellow from 2020-2025.

Publications

Selected publications

• Humphrey, H., Coleman-Fountain, E., Abbott, D., & Toft, A. (2025). Fitting comfortably together: doing and imagining gender and sexuality in personal assistance. Feminism and Psychology, 35(2), 228-245. 
• Humphrey, H., Slater, T., Coleman-Fountain, E., & Jones, C. (2023). Building a Community for Queer Disability Studies: Lessons from the Snail. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 12(1), 1–28.
• Humphrey, H., Slater, T., Coleman-Fountain, E., & Jones, C. (2023). Création d’une communauté réunissant les études queer sur le handicap : leçons tirées de l’escargot. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 12(2), 226–258.
• Humphrey, H., & Coleman-Fountain, E. (2023). Creating Time for LGBT+ Disabled Youth: Co-production Outside Chrononormativity. Sociological Research Online, 29(1), 233-242. 
• McLaughlin, J., & Coleman-Fountain, E. (2019). Visual methods and voice in disabled childhoods research: troubling narrative authenticity. Qualitative Research, 19(4), 363-381.
• McLaughlin, J., Coleman-Fountain, E., & Clavering, E. (2016). Disabled childhoods: Monitoring differences and emerging identities. Taylor and Francis Inc.
• Coleman-Fountain, E. (2014). Understanding Narrative Identity through Lesbian and Gay Youth. Palgrave Macmillan.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Investigating Social Problems
• Gender, Sexuality and Inequalities
• Health and Illness
• Body and Society
• Global Justice, Health and Wellbeing

Postgraduate

• Introduction to Qualitative Methods and Data Analysis
• Crime and Inequalities

External activities

Memberships

I am a long-standing member of the British Sociological Association (BSA).

Editorial duties

I serve as an Editor for the journal Sociological Research Online, which is a house journal of the BSA.