I am currently Research and Scholarly Communications Librarian. I support researchers with their publication journey and navigating the complexities of the Open Access landscape.

I first joined the University of Sunderland in 2010 as a history lecturer teaching early modern history having previously taught in a number of colleges in the University of London (Goldsmiths, Birkbeck, Royal Holloway). I then took up a position as an academic liaison librarian for the School of Education. In this role, I taught information and media literacy to students and helped them develop their research and critical thinking skills.

I obtained my PhD in 2008 from the Royal Holloway University of London under the supervision of Prof Justin Champion. My Phd was entitled: Jean Bodin’s Colloquium Heptaplomeres: Clandestine literature, heterodoxy and the possibility of toleration 1590-1750. This work allowed me to consider theories of religious toleration in the aftermath of the religious Reformation of the 16th century, as well as the circulation of heterodox ideas in the pre-Enlightenment and Enlightenment period. Following from this I developed interests in the varied ways of thinking about State/Church relationships, theories of resistance, and republicanism in the early modern period with a focus on France and England.

I graduated in 2022 with distinction from an MA in Library and Information Services Management from Sheffield University. My MA dissertation was on Authority and Knowledge creation: Wikipedia and higher education. It focuses on history lecturer's understanding of authority and their assessment of Wikipedia as a teaching or dissemination tool.

I have interests in digital literacy, understanding mis/disinformation, the nature of authority in public discourse, and information literacy in higher education.

My research is in the broad area of intellectual history in the early modern period. I am particularly interested in issues surrounding the question of legitimate government and resistance to tyranny and the inter-linked question of the relationship between Church and State in the aftermath of the Reformation. I have interests in the development of a republican discourse in the Early Modern period and its links with question about toleration and civil religion.

Following my recent MA in Library and Information Services Management, I have interest in the notion of authority for media and information literacy. I am also interested in Open Access and its potential to disrupt academic publication.