Welcome to my website! Here you can find information about me and my work at the University of Gloucestershire, where I am Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics. I joined the University of Gloucestershire in September 2021, becoming part of young and vibrant International Relations, Politics, and Human Geography programmes.

Before joining Gloucestershire, I was Senior Lecturer in International Relations and International Politics at LJMU. I was also a Teaching Fellow in International Security in the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick for 2 years, where I won the Butterworth Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence and was nominated for a University Staff Award for Supporting Student Employability. Before that I was a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Politics, University of Surrey.

I read for a BA (Hons) Politics at the University of Surrey, before completing my MSc Middle East Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. I then returned to the University of Surrey where I undertook my PhD in Middle Eastern Political History.

My thesis ‘Politics, Power and Matrimony: Understanding Womens Marital Rights in Egypt and Iran’ explored the impact of secularism on gender equality within family law in Egypt and Iran between 1920 and 1939. During my PhD I also completed the Department of Higher Education’s Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching, later obtaining Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2019.

My current research explores the impact of childhood experiences on political activists in Egypt, Iran and Iraq between 1900 and 1980. I have written on the impact of secularism on women’s divorce rights and secular models in the Middle East and North Africa region. I have also written on non-Western International Relations Theory and I have had the pleasure to write with Marie Breen-Smyth on victims and child soldiers.

In addition to my academic work, I am currently a Town Councillor in Nailsea, North Somerset, after being coopted in 2024. I was previously a Liberal Democrat Town Councillor (2019-2023), Deputy Mayor (2021-2022), and Mayor (2022-2023) in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. I also stood in the District Council elections in 2019 (Warwick) and the 2023 Wrington by-election (North Somerset) and stood in the County Council elections in 2021 (Warwickshire). I love where I live, and really enjoy being involved in the local community and working with people to constantly improve the town.