Gillian Youngs

Professor Gillian Youngs

Visiting Professor of Design & Digital Strategy

Key details

Professor Gillian Youngs

Visiting Professor of Design & Digital Strategy

Professor Gillian Youngs is Visiting Professor of Design and Digital Strategy in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Greenwich.

Gillian’s focus on digital and virtual futures is based on her applied research in digital economy, globalization and feminist international relations. Innovation has been the main driver in her professional path. Her research and policy-related contributions have identified creative arts and design as key areas for expanding understanding of innovation beyond tech.

Her project work with entrepreneurs and innovators in the start-up ecosystem is featured in the 76-page report The FUSE at Ten: Reviewing a Decade of Research Impact launched at the House of Lords in May 2023. In 2020 Gillian became a Fellow of the Women’s Engineering Society in recognition of her outstanding contribution to digital economy and sustained support of women in STEM.

Gillian has a leadership background in media, entrepreneurial business and higher education and her international experience and project work in Europe, the USA, Africa and East Asia, provides her with cross-cultural perspectives, which inform all aspects of her work.

After successfully establishing one of the first MA programmes related to the internet, she believes she was the first woman in the UK to be appointed as a Professor of Digital Economy in 2010. She has been a principal investigator on funding awards from the ESRC, AHRC and British Academy, and she was Inaugural John Urry Fellow, University of Lancaster (2017 – 2018).

Gillian has published widely in her areas of expertise, and co-edited one of the first critical editions on globalization which was published in three editions – Globalization: Theory and Practice, Continuum, 1996, 2003, 2008. A revised version of her PhD thesis was published as International Relations in a Global Age, Polity, 1999. She edited Political Economy, Power and the Body: Global Perspectives, Macmillan, 2000, and Digital World: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights, Routledge, 2013 (agreed for translation into Arabic). Her second monograph, Global Political Economy in the Information Age, was published by Routledge in 2007. She was a founding co-editor of International Feminist Journal of Politics in 1999 and continues to serve on its International Advisory Council.

Gillian led a project which contributed to the agenda for establishing Innovate UK’s Digital Catapult and was Academic Lead for the establishment of the Digital Catapult Brighton. Her research has been included in all RCUK/UKRI Research Assessment Exercises and Research Excellence Framework submissions including as part of impact, and she was a member of the RCUK Research Excellence Framework 2014 Sub-panel 36: Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management.

Gillian served as a high-level expert on innovation at the European Commission (2016 - 2021) to the Horizon 2020 Protection and Security Group (Vice-Chair), and as an expert on the Advisory Group for Gender (2016–2018). She was an external member of the BFI Screen Industry Research and Statistics Advisory Group (2015 – 2021). Other strategic and advocacy roles and contributions have ranged across Welsh Government, RCUK (now UKRI), Arts Council, Nesta, Creative Industries Federation (CIF), Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD), SME business networks and start-up communities.

Awards

Recognition
Fellowships
  • Fellow of Women’s Engineering Society (2020) for outstanding contribution to digital economy and sustained support of women in STEM
  • Inaugural John Urry Fellow, University of Lancaster (2017 – 2018)
  • Visiting Scholar University of California Riverside, USA, for two periods in 2008 and 2009
Expert Roles
  • Trustee and Advisory Group member, The Margate School, Kent, (from 2022)
  • High-level innovation expert at the European Commission to the Horizon 2020 Protection and Security Group (Vice-Chair) (2016 – 2020) and Advisory Group for Gender (2016 – 18)
  • Member of the BFI Screen Industry Research and Statistics Advisory Group 2015 – 2021
  • Expert input (2017) into the future of digital innovation as part of the EU Horizon 2020 Next Generation Internet initiative
  • Assessor on Innovate UK Digital Catapult Centre Creative Showcases, August 2015 and August 2016
  • Engagement with Innovate UK including in agenda setting for the Digital Catapult Centre opened in 2014
  • Academic lead on the ‘Internet of Place’ concept and launch team member for the Digital Catapult Centre Brighton (2015)
  • Member of Welsh Government Digital Economy Research Hub (2011-12).
Board Memberships
  • Capital Enterprise (elected December 2017 – September 2019)
  • Council for Higher Education in Art and Design (elected March 2018 – December 2019)
  • Canterbury Festival (June 2018 – September 2019) including as a member of Strategy and Planning Committee
Peer Review/Journal Roles
  • Funding application reviewing experience across EPSRC, ESRC, AHRC, Canadian social sciences research council, Irish humanities research council, Guggenheim foundation, Nuffield foundation, Belgian Science Policy Office
  • Founding co-editor of International Feminist Journal of Politics launched in 1999. Lead editor 2003-2005. Continued as board member and currently member of International Advisory Council
Board member
  • Media, Culture and Society (Corresponding Editor from 2016)
  • Previous board memberships: Communication, Culture and Critique; Journal of Global Ethics: Political Geography
Professional Association Roles
  • Elected as vice-president US-based International Studies Association (ISA) 2008-9. Elected as Non-North American representative to Governing Council of ISA 2006-7. ISA Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Section member-at-large-on executive committee 1998-2000, section’s newsletter contributions editor 1996-8, co-program chair 1999-2000, chair 2001-2002, executive committee member 2002/3
  • Founder member of British International Studies Association (BISA) Gender and International Relations Working Group
  • Vice President. Global Studies Association, 2002-4

Research / Scholarly interests

Gillian has built an international scholarly reputation at the cutting edge of International Relations (IR) and international political economy (IPE), focused on globalization, digital economy, and feminist theory. Her research, publications and academic leadership work in these areas reflect the strong interdisciplinary traditions of IR and their relevance to diverse areas of policy, business and culture.

Research council and other funding support has covered aspects of the war on terror, digital economy, and the start-up sector. Journal activities include membership of the International Advisory Council of International Feminist Journal of Politics which she co-founded in 1999 and co-edited with colleagues in Australia and the USA.

Gillian’s academic publications include two monographs, two sole-edited collections (one of which has been agreed for translation into Arabic), a co-edited collection published in three editions, and more than 50 major journal articles and chapters, in addition to business reports and briefings linked to her applied research.

Gillian has presented her research in keynote and invited speaker engagements in the USA, China, India, South Korea, Tanzania, Kenya, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, Turkey. She has also presented research papers in Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Spain, Ireland, France.

Her recent work on innovation has been concentrated in creative and digital economy, the start-up ecosystem and policy developments associated with it. The role of design thinking and creative arts in innovator development has featured strongly in this work. Her project work with entrepreneurs and innovators in the start-up ecosystem was featured in the 76-page report The FUSE at Ten: Reviewing a Decade of Research Impact launched at the House of Lords in May 2023. Her reports include: Fusebox24 (2015) results from the AHRC-funded project to build and pilot an experimental business development programme for innovators, combining arts, design and lean business techniques; Designing the Digital Economy: Embedding Growth Through Design, Innovation and Technology, launched at the House of Lords in May 2014, results of the AHRC-funded Design Commission Digital Revolution Inquiry (2013-2014) which Gillian co-chaired with Lord Richard Inglewood; Creative Ramsgate (2019), the result of the first primary research on mapping the creative and digital sector in Ramsgate, Kent, funded by Arts Council England and Locate in Kent, and showing the sector’s growth as well as its premises and business needs.

Recent activities include: research and expert contributions on digital transformation; strategic analysis and team development work on large-scale project impacts; professional and pro bono mentoring across academic, executive, founder and young entrepreneur contexts; engagement in start-up ecosystem and innovation developments; exploration of intergenerational issues and new models of professional development to connect knowledge, skill sets and experience of older and younger workers to the benefit of both as well as the economy.

Gillian’s teaching and course development at undergraduate and postgraduate levels has always been closely related to her research and commitment to digital pedagogy and upskilling. The majority of her PhD students (10 completions to date as lead supervisor) have been from Asia, Europe and the Middle East, and she has undertaken 14 external PhD examinations in the UK, Sweden and Australia.

Recent publications

2021 –

  • ‘Inclusive Innovation: Feminist Perspectives’. In M. H. Marchand and A. S Runyan (eds) Gender and Global Restructuring 3rd ed. London: Routledge, forthcoming 2024.
  • ‘New Media and Communications’. In D. Tepe-Belfrage and J. Montgomerie (eds) Handbook on Gender in World Politics 2nd ed. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, forthcoming.
  • ‘Feminist Theory and the State’. In C. W. Barrow (ed.) Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2024.
  • ‘International Feminist Journal of Politics: A Brief History’ with K. B. Jones. In C. W. Barrow (ed.) Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2024.
  • My applied research in start-up ecosystem as part of Fuse projects featured in Hall, L., Jones, P. and Sapsed, J. ‘The Fuse at Ten: Reviewing a Decade of Research Impact’ (76-page report), 2023, https://www.creativefusene.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/The-FUSE-at-Ten-Report.pdf.
  • Briefing Paper: ‘FutureWork: Intergenerational Challenges and Possibilities’, Centre for the New Midlands, 2021. https://www.thenewmidlands.org.uk/futurework/
2014 – 2020
2008 - 2013
  • Digital World: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights. Edited volume and opening chapter. London: Routledge, 2013. Output from ESRC research seminar series on Digital Policy. Translation into Arabic 2019
  • Introductory Commentary. Productive Relationships: Creative and Cultural Industries and Higher Education in Wales. Swansea Metropolitan University, 2012
  • ‘Globalization, Information and Communication Technologies and Women’s Lives’. In R. Pande and T. van der Weide (eds). Globalization, Technology Diffusion and Gender Disparity. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2012
  • ‘Smart Growth, Smart Nation:  Europe, China and Innovation.’ (translated into Chinese) China Information Times (ISSN 1671-3370), November 2011 (11). 71-6
  • ‘Making the Pain Count: Embodied Politics in the New Age of Terror’. In A. Karatzogianni (ed.) Violence and War in Culture and the Media. London: Routledge, 2011
  • ‘Feminist International Relations in a High-Tech Age.’ In A. Bergman-Rosamund and M. Phythian (eds). War, Ethics and Justice: New Perspectives on a Post 9/11 World. London: Routledge, 2011.  pp.112-27
  • ‘Digital Globalization and Democracy: The Territorial Walls Come Tumbling Down?’ Development 54(2), 2011
  • ‘The “new home front” and the War on Terror: Ethical and Political Reframing of National and International Politics.’ International Affairs 86(4) 2010, 925-937
  • ‘Globalization, Feminism and Information Society’. In M. Marchand and A. Sisson Runyan (eds). Gender and Global Restructuring 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2010
  • ‘Cosmopolitanism and Feminism in the Age of the War on Terror: A Twenty-first Century Reading of Virginia Woolf‘s Three Guineas’. In M. Nowicka and M. Rovisco (eds) Cosmopolitanism in Practice. Farnham: Ashgate. 2009, 145-159
  • ‘Globalization, Ethics and the ‘War on Terror’. Co-authored with Heather Widdows  Globalizations 6(1) 2009, 1-6
  • Globalizations 6(1)1. 2009. Special Issue: Globalization, Ethics and the ‘War on Terror’. Co-edited with Heather Widdows and Eric Herring
  • ‘Media and Mediation in the ‘War on Terror: Issues and Challenges.’ Critical Studies on Terrorism 2009 2(1), 1-8
  • ‘Blogging and Globalization: the Blurring of the Public/Private Spheres.’ Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives 2009 61(2):127-138
  • ‘From Practice to Theory: Feminist International Relations and ‘Gender Mainstreaming’. International Politics 45, 688-702. 2008
  • ‘Globalization, Communications and Political Action: Special Issue Introduction’ with Juliann Emmons Allison, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 4.1, 2008, 3-8
  • International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 4.1, 2008, ‘Globalization, Communications and Political Action’. Co-edited with Juliann Emmons Allison
  • Globalization: Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. Co-edited with E. Kofman. London: Continuum. 2008
  • ‘Concluding Comments: Making Our Own Paths Setting Our Own Agendas and Putting Them Into Action’. In F. Molfino and F. Zucco (eds). Women in Biotechnology – Creating Interfaces. Springer, 2008, 341-4
2001-2007
  • Global Political Economy in the Information Age: Power and Inequality. London: Routledge, 2007
  • ‘Public/Private: The Hidden Dimension of International Communication’. In Sarikakis, K. and Shade, L. R. (eds) Feminist Interventions in International Communication: Minding the Gap. Plymouth: Roman and Littlefield, 2007, 33-44
  • ‘Feminist International Relations in the Age of the War on Terror: Ideologies, Religions and Conflict.’ International Feminist Journal of Politics 8(1) 2006. Lead article in theme issue of same name
  • ‘Gender and Technology: The Internet in Context’. In Sarikakis, K.  and Thussu, D. K. (eds) The Ideology of the Internet: Concepts, Policies, Uses. New York: Hampton Press (IAMCR series), 2005
  • ‘Ethics of Access: Globalization, Feminism and Information Society. Journal of Global Ethics 1(1) 2005, 69-84
  • ‘Feminist International Relations: a Contradiction in Terms: Or Why Women and Gender are Essential to Understanding the World ‘We’ Live in.’ International Affairs, Vol.80 (1), 2004 75-87
  • ‘Gender, Equality and Globalization’. In Horton, K and Patan, H. (eds). Equality and Globalization. London: Routledge. 2004, 114-128
  • ‘Cyberspace: The New Feminist Frontier?’ In Ross, K. and Byerly, C. (eds). Essays in Feminism and Media. Oxford: Blackwell. 2004, 185-208
  • ‘Feminizing cyberspace: rethinking technoagency.’ In: Parpart, J.L., Rai, S.M. and Staudt, K. (eds.) Rethinking Empowerment: Gender and Development in a Global/Local World. Routledge, London, 2002, 79-94
  • Globalization: Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. Co-edited with E.Kofman. London: Continuum. 2003
  • ‘Private Pain/Public Peace: Women’s Rights as Human Rights and Amnesty International’s Report on Violence Against Women.’ Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 28(4). 2003, 1209-1229
  • ‘The Taylor Guide to Globalization: Reflections on Some of the Signposts.’ Political Geography 20 2001, 695-707
  • ‘The Political Economy of Time in the Internet Era: Feminist Perspectives and Challenges.’.  Information, Communication and Society 4(1) 2001, 14-33
  • ‘Internet, Politics and States.’. In D. Spender and C. Kramarae (eds.). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women’s Studies. London: Routledge, 2001, 1154-6
  • ‘Theoretical reflections on networking in practice: The Case of Women on the Net.’ In E. Green and  A. Adam (eds). Virtual Gender. London: Routledge, 2001, 84-99
1996 - 2000
  • Political Economy, Power and the Body: Global Perspectives. Edited volume. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000
  • ‘Embodied Political Economy or an Escape from Disembodied Knowledge.’ In G. Youngs (ed.) Political Economy, Power and the Body: Global Perspectives. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000. ISBN:0-333-71923-9/71924-7, 75-93
  • ‘Globalization, Technology and Consumption.’ In G. Youngs (ed.) Political Economy, Power and the Body: Global Perspectives. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2000, 11-30
  • ‘Questions of Agency and the Internet: A New Way of Learning.’ In G. Youngs et al. (eds) Creative and Inclusive Strategies for Lifelong Learning: Report of International Roundtable 27-29 November 2000, UNESCO Institute for Education, Hamburg, Germany, 109-117
  • ‘Breaking Patriarchal Bonds: Demythologizing the Public/Private’. In M. Marchand and A. Sisson Runyan (eds) Gender and Global Restructuring London: Routledge, 2000, 44-58
  • International Relations in a Global Age. A Conceptual Challenge. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999. (revised version of PhD thesis)
  • ‘New Spaces, New Politics: International Feminist Directions.’ (with Kathleen B. Jones and Jan Jindy Pettman) International Feminist Journal of Politics 1 (1) 1999, 1-13.4
  • ‘Virtual Voices: Real Lives’. In W. Harcourt (ed.) Women@Internet. London: Zed, 1999, 55-68
  • ‘The Reality of American Idealism’. In D. Slater and P. Taylor (eds). The American Century. Oxford: Blackwell, 1999, 210-221
  • ‘Timeframes and Spatial Contexts: Understanding Democracy and The Political Economy of Transition in Hong Kong’ Global Society: Journal of Interdisciplinary International Relations 12 (2) 1998, 237-49. Special Issue: Democracy and Civil Society
  • ‘Transitionary Challenges: The Future of the Hong Kong Economy’. In I. Zloch-Christy (ed.). Eastern Europe and the World Economy: Challenges of Transition and Globalization. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 1998, 262-278
  • ‘Culture and the Technological Imperative: Missing Dimensions’.  In M. Talalay, C. Farrands and, R. Tooze (eds.). Technology, Culture and Competitiveness: Change and the World Political Economy. London: Routledge, 1997, 27-40
  • ‘Political Economy, Sovereignty and Borders in Global Contexts’. In L. Brace and J. Hoffman (eds). Reclaiming Sovereignty. London: Pinter, 1997, 117-133
  • Globalization: Theory and Practice. Co-edited with E.Kofman. London: Continuum. 1996
  • ‘Dangers of Discourse: The Case of Globalization’ In E. Kofman and G. Youngs (eds.). Globalization: Theory and Practice. London: Pinter, 1996, 58-71
  • ‘Beyond the “Inside/Outside’ Divide’. In J. Krause and N. Renwick (eds). Identities in International Relations. London: Macmillan, 1996

Presentations

Recent strategic inputs, papers, panels and keynote presentations include:

2021 –
  • Keynote Speaker: ‘Art – Life – Work’, Graduation Ceremony, The Margate School, Kent, September 9 2023.
  • Interview: ‘Going for Large-Scale Digital Empowerment’, Society of Female Philosophers in History online channel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALxWhQO7dKE. Interviewed by Andrea Menéndez Arboleya, Universidad de Oviedo, Asturias, Spain, 2022.
  • Speaker: ‘Engineering A Digital Path’ as a Fellow of the Women's Engineering Society at an online workshop as part of its Universities Network, May 24 2023.
  • Chair of 'Conversation on digital feminism' panel as part of Asian Journal of Women's Studies and International Feminist Journal of Politics Online International Workshop, Remapping the Feminist Global: Encounters with and in Asia(s), April 11 2023.
  • Keynote Speaker: ‘Digital Transformation’, Women’s Engineering Society International Women in Engineering Day Webinar, June 23 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7KsnvIO3BA.
  • Speaker on Visiting Scholars Panel: ‘No Longer Marginal’, Webinar, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Greenwich, February 1 2022.
  • Guest Speaker. ‘Inclusive innovation: navigating unconscious bias to harness the power of diversity.’ Virtual Guest Lecture: Certificate in Business Administration in the Security, Defence, and Space industries [CBA SDS], IAE Nice Graduate School of Management, Université Côte d’Azur, France Summer 2021.

2014 – 2020
  • Invited Speaker. ‘Engineering A Digital Path: A Feminist Story.’ Virtual Symposium, PONToon |European Regional Development Fund Project ‘Digital Upskilling and Economic Inclusion for Women,’ December 1 2020
  • Invited Expert. ‘Shibuka Showcase: Young Rwandan Entrepreneurs.’ Virtual Event, July 27 2020
  • Panelist. ‘Diversifying Art and Design Practices in an Age of Uncertainty’. Computer Arts Society Webinar, June 24 2020
  • Guest Speaker. ‘The Problem of Unconscious Bias: Seeing the Whole Picture.’ Virtual Guest Lecture: Certificate in Business Administration in the Security, Defence, and Space industries [CBA SDS], IAE Nice Graduate School of Management, Université Côte d’Azur, France. Summer 2020
  • Keynote Speaker. ‘Digital Threats. Digital Opportunities’. The Reinvention Symposium, The Margate School, Margate Kent, October 4 2019
  • Keynote Speaker. ‘The Internet of Place’. Community Conference on Public Access to WiFi: Is This for Everyone? Hastings, East Sussex, September 23 2019. Organized by MSL
  • Invited Speaker. ‘Inclusive Innovation and Digital Economy: Feminist Contributions to the Challenges’. Utrecht University School of Economics, The Netherlands, May 31 2018
  • Invited Panel Presenter. ‘Inclusive Dynamics to Strengthen Start-Up Culture’, European Commission ICT Imagine Digital Connect Europe Conference, Vienna, December 4 - 6 2018
  • Keynote Speaker, ‘Innovation and Design Power: The Role of Place’, 17th Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and National Institute of Design (NID) India Design Summit, Hyderabad December 5 - 6 2017
  • Member of International Judging Panel for CII Design Excellence Awards and CHEAD delegation as International Institution Partner for the summit
  • Member of international panel on ‘inclusive design’ as part of Diversity + Inclusiveness Design Exhibition, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich, October 18 2017
  • Keynote Speaker, ‘Inclusive Innovation and Digital Economy: Feminist Contributions to the Challenges’, Internet + SHE: Innovation and Development Beijing Forum, China, June 30 2017
  • Invited Opening Panel Speaker, ‘Innovation and Empowerment as Two Sides of the Same Coin’ Digital Social Innovation Workshop, Rimini, Italy, May 23 2017
  • Invited Participant, Creative Industries Federation Industrial Strategy Workshop, City Hall, London, March 14 2017
  • Invited Participant, Horizon Scanning Event for the DCMS Digital Culture Project, University of Liverpool in London, March 2 2017
  • Panel Speaker, CHEAD REF Consultation meeting, University of Westminster, February 24 2017
  • Panel Speaker, Leading and Developing a Research Culture, CHEAD Leadership Programme, University of Westminster, November 9 2016
  • Opening Keynote Speaker, ‘Innovation and Place: making new connections through arts, design and creativity’, Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts (DRHA) conference, University of Brighton, September 4 2016
  • Invited Speaker ‘50 Years of Media and Communication Research at the University of Leicester’, Leicester, July 26 2016
  • Invited Participant, Innovate UK Digital Catapult Centre Roundtable on Future Strategy, July 25 2016
  • Chair of panel discussion ‘Research on Radicalisation: a concrete contribution to policy making’, European Commission Security Research Conference, June 1-2 2016, The Hague, Netherlands
  • Chair of ‘Inside Government’ Seminars: Developing Digital Skills for the Next Generation, London, May 17 2016
  • Invited Speaker ‘Creativity in the Digital Economy: opportunities and risks’, Liverpool Screen School Research Seminar Series, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, May 9 2016
  • Invited Participant Arts Council Strategy Workshop, Cambridge, March 10 2016
  • Chair of ‘Engaging for Impact: using research to influence the policy making process in parliament’ workshop involving Houses of Parliament Information and Outreach Service, for colleagues from University of Brighton and University of Sussex, October 13 2015, University of Brighton.
  • Speaker ‘The Internet of Place: a new territory for innovation’, introduction to the Digital Catapult Centre Brighton and the Internet of Place, Brighton, June 10 2015
  • Invited Speaker ‘Designing the Digital Economy’, RCUK Digital Economy 2014 Conference, Imperial College, London, December 3-5.
  • Invited Participant Innovate UK/Arts Council knowledge exchange workshop on creative and digital economy, London, October 23 2014.
  • Invited Speaker, Big Data/Small Data Panel Digital R&D Fund for the Arts Conference, London, July 3 2014
  • Invited Speaker ‘On Expansion: Photography’s Status in a Digital World Roundtable’, Kings College, London, March 21 2014
2008 - 2013
  • Chair, Industry Panel, Cine Excess International Film Conference and Festival, Birmingham, November 15-17 2013
  • Guest Speaker ‘Digital Economy’ School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, October 30 2013
  • Guest Speaker and Participant, Hack the Hackathon, London, July 5-7 2013
  • Plenary speaker, showcase event, AHRC Creative Exchange Network Wales, Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Wales, June 25 2013
  • Inaugural Professorial Lecture, ‘Wired Reality: Living in a Networked World’, University of Brighton, May 25 2013
  • Invited Speaker, Intersectional Conflict and Dialogue in Transnational Migrant and Digital Diaspora Networks Conference, University of Hull, April 11-12 2013
  • Chair of ‘Inside Government’ Seminar: Digital Housing: building digital capabilities to improve housing services, London, January 30 2013
  • Invited Participant, European Science Foundation, Forward Look Final Conference, Media Studies – New Media and New Literacies, January 24-25 2013, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • Invited Speaker, ‘Virtual Globalization: Directions in Digital Thinking’, Launch of Centre for Global Politics, Economy and Society Launch, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, January 16-17 2013
  • Guest panel chair and discussant at ‘Rethinking Small Media’ conference, School of Oriental and African Studies University of London October 6-7 2012
  • Guest panellist at ‘Getting the Picture: Making Local TV Happen’, Liverpool Screen School, Liverpool John Moores University, May 1 2012. Panel: ‘Content is King’
  • Led Workshop with Gemma Collins on 3VTV micro broadcasting project, 2nd Digital All Hands Conference, Newcastle, November 15-17, 2011
  • Guest contributor to expert workshop ‘Participation as Challenge and Opportunity in Human Rights Research’, Ludwig Boltmann Institute of Human Rights, Vienna, November 3-4 2011. ‘Social Media and Self-Organization: Politics and the Cyberworld.’
  • Invited participant AHRC Connected Communities Project workshops, Bangor University, September 16 2011, Cardiff University, October 14 2011
  • Invited participant UniGov Seminar, Cardiff University (19th October 2011). The Welsh Creative Economy: Intellectual property and digital opportunities
  • ‘Digital and Creative Economy’, Creative Industries Day, University of Wales, Newport, September 14 2011
  • Expert participant ESRC/AHRC sponsored International Conference on Policing and Counter Terrorism, University of Birmingham, July 27-8 2011
  • Invited paper ‘Smart growth, smart nation:  Europe, China and Innovation’, China International Information Festival, Qing Dao, China, July 7-10 2011
  • Invited Speaker ‘They Just Don’t Get It – Creative Digital or Digital Creativity’, Digital Hybridity Conference, June 27 2011
  • Invited Speaker ‘Digital Agency – Techno-transcendence and Feminism’, Women and Violence: The Agency of Victims and Perpetrators International Workshop, University of Birmingham, June 27, 2011
  • ‘Smart Growth, Smart Nation: Europe, China and Innovation’, 6th Interpretive Policy Analysis Conference, Cardiff University, Wales, June 23-5 2011
  • Invited Speaker ‘Stuck in the Mud – Reflections on IR in the Digital Age’, New Media, Image War and the War on Terror Workshop, Swansea University, Wales, June 24 2011
  • Guest Speaker ‘Digital Policy: Connectivity, Creativity and Rights’ EPSRC Dot. Rural Digital Economy Research Hub, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, May 25 2011
  • Guest Speaker ‘Virtual Globalization: Fact or Fiction? Department of Culture, Film and Media, University of Nottingham, March 9 2011
  • Expert participant AHRC sponsored US/UK International Workshop on Police-Community Engagement and Partnership in relation to Counter-Terrorism, University of Birmingham, December 9 2010
  • Keynote Speaker, ‘Making the Pain Count: Policy, Embodied Politics and Memory in the New Age of Terror’, AHRC Conflicts of Memory: Mediating and Commemorating the 2005 London Bombings Project Closing Seminar, University of Nottingham, December 4-5 2010
  • Invited plenary speaker ‘The Challenges of the Cultural Industries.’ Annual MeCCSA Conference January 6-8 2010, LSE, London, UK
  • Co-organizer with Mark Phythian (University of Leicester) of series of panels on ‘Global Ethics in the War on Terror‘ and presenter of paper ‘Multicultural Ethics and Globalization in War on Terror Times‘ at ECPR General Conference September 10-12, 2009, Potsdam, Germany
  • Guest Speaker. LeicestHERday Annual Conference, Leicester, UK, June 12 2009.
    ‘Media and Mediation in the War on Terror. Digital Media and Security Scoping Workshop, University of Warwick, May 21-2 2009
  • Invited participant. United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Forum. Working Group on Empowering Women to Strengthen their Role in a Culture of Peace‘. Istanbul, Turkey, April 6-7 2009
  • ‘Feminist Perspectives on the ―War on Terror’. Guest Speaker. Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Swansea, Wales, UK. March 19 2009
  • ‘Virginia Woolf and Feminist Memory in the Age of the ―War on Terror’. International Studies Association 50th Annual Convention, New York, USA, February 15-18 2009
  • Plenary Paper on Women‘s Rights. 2nd Biennial Women‘s Studies Conference ‘Gender and Positive Action: Empowering or Disabling, Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey, June 12-14 2008
  • ‘Blogging and Blurring of the Public/Private Spheres’. Politics: Web 2.0 International Conference, Royal Holloway, University of London, April 17-18 2008
  • Member of ‘20 years of British Gender and IR Roundtable’. Papers: ‘Multiculturalism and the War on Terror: Feminist Perspectives’; ‘Gender, Technology and Communication’. International Studies Association 49th Annual Convention, San Fransisco, USA, March 26-29 2008