People

Dr Jessica Battersby

Acting Head of Department - Lecturer (R)
Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Dr Jessica Battersby

Profile

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Childhood Studies and Psychosocial Studies in the Department of Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex and have 15 years experience teaching and researching in higher education. My PhD in Sociology from the University of Westminster focussed on the neoliberal and relational approaches to children's agency. My particular research interests relate to the role of non-human objects in models of agency in childhood, the governance of research with children, new materialist and post-humanist perspectives on children and childhood as subjects and objects, and the intersections of childhood studies with animal studies. I love to explore representations of children and childhood in popular culture and have written about texts as diverse as the sitcom The Inbetweeners, anime film Akira, and the novel Girls Like Us. I like to consider the ways in which such representations may disrupt contemporary discourses of childhood and speak as much to our constructions of adulthood as they do of children themselves. I am the creator and course director of our MA Childhood Studies and teach modules at UG and PGT level that explore contemporary theoretical approaches to childhood studies, children's geographies, the social history of childhood and ethical research with children. I'm a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Member of the British Sociological Association (BSA). I would love to hear from prospective PhD students in any field relating Childhood Studies, but particularly in relation to: children in/on popular culture; ethical governance of research with children; post structural, new materialist and post-humanist perspectives on children and childhood, new ways of forging a psychosocial childhood studies; the sexualisation of childhood; young masculinities; geographies of childhood and youth; childhood studies as it interacts with animal studies; child/animal relations; children's rights.

Qualifications

  • PhD Sociology University of Westminster,

  • MA Sociology and Panel Data Analysis University of Essex,

  • BA (Hons) Sociology and Criminology University of Essex,

Appointments

Other academic

  • Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Suffolk (1/9/2010 - 20/8/2009)

  • Programme Area Manager, School of Social Sciences, London South East Colleges (1/9/2008 - 28/8/2009)

Research and professional activities

Conferences and presentations

Invited Panellist - Storytelling in the Social Sciences

Invited presentation, Springer Nature ESRC Festival of Social Science Event on Storytelling in the Social Sciences, Storytelling in the Social Sciences - Tamsin O'Riordan, London, United Kingdom, 8/11/2018

Popular Culture in the Classroom

Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Supporting Diversity for Classroom Professionals, Diversity, Ipswich, United Kingdom, 3/2018

Teaching and supervision

Current teaching responsibilities

  • Living a Good Life: Critical Approaches to Wellness and Happiness (PA107)

  • Introduction to Childhood Studies (PA140)

  • Research Methodologies and Research Design (PA805)

  • Critical Debates in Childhood and Childhood Studies (PA943)

  • Geographies of Childhood and Youth (PA946)

  • Children�s Emotional Worlds (PA949)

  • Research Methods and Dissertation (PA981)

  • The Social History of Childhood (PA234)

  • Popular Film, Literature and Television: A Psychosocial Approach (PA108)

Publications

Journal articles (4)

Clark, J. and Duschinsky, R., (2020). Young masculinities, purity and danger: Disparities in framings of boys and girls in policy discourses of sexualisation. Sexualities. 23 (5-6), 136346071773671-136346071773671

Earle, H. and Clark, J., (2019). Telling national stories in American Horror Story. European Journal of American Culture. 38 (1), 5-13

Clark, J., (2018). “There’s Plenty More Clunge in the Sea”: Boyhood Masculinities and Sexual Talk. Sage Open. 8 (2), 215824401876975-215824401876975

Clark, J., (2013). Passive, Heterosexual and Female: Constructing Appropriate Childhoods in the ‘Sexualisation of Childhood’ Debate. Sociological Research Online. 18 (2), 172-180

Books (1)

Richards, S., Clark, J. and Boggis, A., (2015). Ethical Research with Children Untold Narratives and Taboos. Palgrave Macmillan. 1137351314. 978-1137351302

Book chapters (12)

Clark, J., (2019). Biker Gangs and Boyhood Agency in Akira. In: Child and Youth Agency in Science Fiction: Travel, Technology, Time. Editors: Clark, J. and Castro, IE., . Lexington Books. 109- 130. 978-1-4985-9738-8

Clark, J. and Castro, IE., (2019). Girl Zombies and Boy Wonders: The Future of Agency is Now!. In: Child and Youth Agency in Science Fiction: Travel, Technology, Time. Editors: Clark, J. and Castro, IE., . Lexington Book. 1- 21. 978-1-4985-9738-8

Clark, J., (2018). 'Speddies with Spraypaints': Intersections of agency, childhood, and disability in award winning young adult fiction. In: Representing Agency in Popular Culture Children and Youth on Page, Screen, and In Between. Editors: Castro, IE. and Clark, J., . Lexington Books. 133- 156. 978-1-4985-7494-5

Clark, J. and Castro, IE., (2018). Zuzu's petals and Scout's mockingbirds: The legacy of children's agency in popular culture. In: Representing Agency in Popular Culture: Children and Youth on Page, Screen and In Between. Editors: Clark, J. and Castro, IE., . Lexington Books. xi- xxxi. 978-1-4985-7494-5

Clark, J., (2018). Embodiment and Representation. In: Dis/Abled Childhoods? A Transdisciplinary Approach. Editors: boggis, A., . Palgrave Macmillan. 99- 120. 978-3-319-65175-0

Richards, S. and Clark, J., (2018). Research with Disabled Children: Tracing the Past, Present, and Future. In: Dis/Abled Childhoods? A Transdisciplinary Approach. Editors: Boggis, A., . Palgrave Macmillan. 187- 209. 978-3-319-65175-0

Clark, J., vine, T., richards, S. and weir, D., (2017). Introduction: Ethnographic Research and Analysis - Anxiety, Identity and Self. In: Ethnographic Research and Analysis Anxiety, Identity and Self. Editors: Clark, J., vine, T., richards, S. and weir, D., . Springer. 1- 13. 1137585552. 9781137585554

Clark, J. and Richards, S., (2017). The cherished conceits of research with children: Does seeking the agentic voice of the child through participatory methods deliver what it promises?. In: Researching Children and Youth: Methodological Issues, Strategies, and Innovations. Editors: Castro, IE., Swauger, M. and Harger, B., . Emerald Publishing. 127- 147. 978-1787140998

Clark, J., (2014). Sexualisation and the discursive figure of the child. In: Soul of Society: A focus on the lives of children and youth. Editors: warehime, MN., . Emerald. 173- 198. 978-1-78441-060-5

Clark, J. and Bond, E., (2013). Alternatives to the Essay: Creative Ways of Presenting Work for Assessment. In: Creativity in the Classroom Case Studies in Using the Arts in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Editors: Mcintosh, P. and Warren, D., . Intellect Books. 227- 245. 1841505161. 9781841505169

Clark, J., (2013). Children's Geographies. In: Early Childhood Studies A Multidisciplinary and Holistic Introduction. Editors: taylor, J., bond, E. and woods, M., . Hodder Education. 272- 292. 1444175874. 9781444175875

Clark, J., (2013). Embodied Childhoods. In: Early Childhood Studies A Multidisciplinary and Holistic Introduction. Editors: taylor, J., bond, E. and woods, M., . Hodder Education. 46- 64. 1444175874. 9781444175875

Contact

jessica.battersby@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 874943

Location:

5A.205, Colchester Campus