Key details
Dr Craig Morris
Senior Lecturer in Sociology
I am a Senior Lecturer in Sociology with research interests around the social aspects of drug use and undergraduate transitions through university and engagement/non-engagement with employability services, employability events and career planning. I still believe that higher education is a way for people to transform their prospects and themselves.
My research focuses on two separate themes: representations and identities of illicit drug users / undergraduate employability. I make sociology real and relevant. Nominated for the national AGCAS Award for Excellence in Employability, I design learning that connects theory to action. I am an advocate for critical thinking and challenging the status quo. I have over 12 years experience of working around employability (writing and running modules, doing research, organising events). If you care about using sociology to make an impact, please get in touch. I am always interested discussing projects and ideas. Thank you for reading.
Responsibilities within the university
Module Lead for Humanities and Social Sciences Placements
Awards
Shortlisted for Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services 'Inclusive Employability Practices Award' (2025)
Winner of University of Greenwich 'Outstanding Contribution to Employability Award' (both University and Faculty Prizes) (2016)
Recognition
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Research / Scholarly interests
I have two separate strands of research interests: representations and identities of illicit drug users; undergraduate employability. My research in relation to the former focuses on how medicinal cannabis users negotiate positive identities in research interviews, how they articulate oppositions between ideas about what is 'natural' and what is 'chemical/artificial', how UK newspaper articles in the 1990s negotiated positive portrayals of medicinal cannabis users and whether UK newspapers tend to articulate a relatively consistent discourse on illicit drugs regardless of the newspapers' political leanings. My research in relation to the latter focuses on social class, gender and ethnicity patterns around student engagement with employability services/events and career readiness.
Recent publications
Article
Morris, Craig and , (2022), Negotiating ambiguous substance use: UK newspaper representations of self-prescribing medicinal cannabis use in the 1990s. SAGE. In: , , , . SAGE, Journal of Drug Issues, 53 (1) . pp. 129-144 ISSN: 0022-0426 (Print), 1945-1369 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/00220426221090177).
Morris, Craig and , Memari, Laura (2022), Is there a largely consistent discourse on drugs in the UK press? Tabloid or broadsheet, left-leaning or right, does it make much difference?. School of Criminal Justice, State University Of New York at Albany. In: , , , . School of Criminal Justice, State University Of New York at Albany, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 22 (1) . pp. 92-108 ISSN: 1070-8286 (Print), (doi: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b0ee82df793927c77add8b6/t/626d6489e835b02a5f071723/1651336330183/Morris+Drugs+in+the+UK+Press+Final+Proof.pdf) NB Item availability restricted.