Michelle Brooks, Geography
Graduated in 2008
Since completing my Geography degree at BSU, I have begun a 1+3 MSc /PhD programme at the University of Reading, after winning the open competition for a full studentship. The application was based on the research I completed as part of my undergraduate dissertation project at BSU. My PhD explores the trajectory between belonging and terrorism in Islamic communities using an 'auto-pictorial' methodology that I devised here at Bath Spa to work across groups with varying capacity for engagement with social research. I have presented some of my research at international conferences in Newcastle, London (RGS- IBG) and in the US (Georgia State University). I also teach at Bath Spa and occasionally abroad. I have recently completed a research project to survey residents of slum districts in Colombo, Sri Lanka, the city where I was born. The UN and Save the Children in Sri Lanka will be project partners in the research. In addition I also act as a referee for the academic journal 'Political Geography' and news editor for the online academic journal 'Geography Directions'. I am also Head of Research for Inspire, a consultancy that works between government and grass-roots organisations to tackle extremism in Islamic communities and to empower Muslim women through education and training programmes. So, a lot has happened since I first began my Development Geography degree at Bath Spa but there is no doubt that this education has really taken me places and opened doors in ways I never really imagined. At a time when university graduates are finding it hard to find employment, I feel lucky to have been at Bath Spa and to have been encouraged to work really hard, take every opportunity to experience new things, make the most of the knowledge and experience of my tutors, and make the most of my degree which has stood me in good stead so far.
