About
I'm Associate Professor of Portuguese and World Literatures in the department of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. My teaching focuses on the cultures of the Portuguese- and English-speaking worlds, critical theory, and topics related to race, gender, sexuality and disability. My current research explores the historical and present role of British institutions, particularly universities, in the structural marginalisation of disabled people.
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Disability studies and disability history
- Gender and sexuality
- Race
- Colonial science and eugenics, particularly in the Portuguese and British empires
Current research
I began my career in Portuguese studies and critical theory, with a focus on the Portuguese-speaking African country of Mozambique. My PhD and first book explored the representation and use of gender, sexuality and the body in Mozambican literature and cultural history, from the late nineteenth century onward. From there, I became interested in comparative approaches to British and Portuguese colonialism, especially in the intersections of colonialism and the history of the human sciences. I am particularly interested in the shared historical roots of race, disability and sexuality, and how this genealogy has come to bear on the marginalisation of disabled, racialised and queer people in the present.
While I maintain strong research interests in the Portuguese-speaking world, the trajectory of my work has led me to a focus closer to home. With my colleague, Dr Vivienne Orchard, I am currently developing a wide-ranging project that examines the role of UK institutions — particularly universities — in creating and upholding the structural marginalisation of disabled people from the early twentieth century to the present. Here we draw on our shared expertise in disability studies and critical theory, and on insights from history, sociology, education, critical social policy and philosophy. We are particularly interested in eugenics and the genealogies of mental disability, and the role of British universities in forming these.
I am always keen to hear from potential PhD students looking to pursue projects in any of the areas outlined above, including in collaboration with colleagues from my own department and others.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
At undergraduate level, I convene and teach the three PORT modules, which are all concerned with the histories and cultures of the Portuguese-speaking world: PORT1001 'Introduction to the Portuguese-speaking World'; PORT2001 'Culture, Power and Resistance in the Portuguese-speaking World'; and PORT3006 'Encounters with Bodies in Lusophone Cultural Narrative' . I also contribute to first-year cultural studies module LANG1004 'Reading Culture' and teach advanced Portuguese-to-English translation.
At postgraduate level, I co-convene and teach the cultural and critical theory module LANG6023 'Nation, Culture, Power', and contribute to the world literature, film and theory module LANG6028 'Narrative, Place, Identity'. My units on these modules include gender and queer theory, disability studies, postcolonialism, critical race theory and Black diaspora literatures.
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
I was awarded my PhD from the University of Manchester in January 2016. During and after my PhD, I taught at the Universities of Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham, before joining Southampton in September 2016. While at Southampton, I have taken an active role in curriculum and programme development, and have served as both programme lead and exams officer for Languages, Cultures and Linguistics. I am currently one of three Equality, Diversity and Inclusion representatives for the department.
I am always keen to hear from potential PhD students looking to pursue projects in any of the areas I specialise in, including in collaboration with colleagues from my own department and others.