Lockdown creates new research opportunities for Helen

Helen Harrison, Postgraduate Research and PhD student.

“I chose the University of Gloucestershire because it was local to where I live, and I’d heard good things about its postgraduate research department from a friend who used to work at the university. I’d been out of education for a long time, and a return to academia was not something I’d been planning to do. It came about as a result in part of slowing down long enough during lockdown to address some questions and issues that had been brewing in my mind relating to my overseas work.

When I sent a speculative email to the university postgraduate department, explaining my vague thoughts about a possible research area, I received a positive and encouraging reply. This added to my reasons for wanting to become a UoG student, as I felt like it was a university that I could be part of.

I’ve been working in sub-Saharan Africa for a number of years, and during that time have delivered a range of training programmes as well as supporting some local organisations with strategic development and capacity building. One of the ongoing reflections has related to the differences that can be seen regarding how I, as a white Western woman, interpret a concept, and how those that I am training interpret it.

This area of cross-cultural perspectives really interests me, and I have always wanted to explore it more. When the Covid pandemic hit, and my overseas travel was curtailed, I had time on my hands, and decided to enquire to see if there might be routes I could go down to start that exploration. One year on, and I’ve completed the first year of Masters in Research and just been successful in upgrading to a PhD.

I’ve been working in this area for several years, and have seen at first hand just how inspiring, and yet unacknowledged, the work is of the projects that will make up part of my research. I’m really excited that through my research, their work will gain some academic credibility, and their achievements will gain some acknowledgement in a wider way. In a world where academia is so often euro-centric, and those that I work within Africa are marginalised, I’m excited that it will be my African partners who are at the centre of this research.”