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Dr James Graham

Deputy Dean in Education

James Graham

  • School Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education

  • Department HSE School Leadership

  • Location London

Research activities

James' research background is in postcolonial media and literary studies. He is particularly interested in the intersection of promotional and postcolonial cultures and was PI for an international consortium of academics and practitioners for the project ‘#diversifyoutdoors: Diversity, Participation and Outdoor Brands on Instagram’. Cooperation partners include outdoor brands and organisations (Outdoor Industries Association), third sector groups (Campaign for National Parks, Danish Outdoor Council, Norwegian Association for Outdoor Organisations), and policy-makers (Natural England, Danish Nature Agency, Metsähallitus, Parks and Wildlife Finland).

This work built on the 2018 Instagram Conference hosted at Middlesex, for which James co-edited a special issue of Social Media+Society, and the 2015 conference on Collaborative Production in the Creative Industries, which led to the publication of a co-edited book: https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/10.16997/book4/

Previously James collaborated on a project with colleagues from the Universities of Warwick, University College Dublin, Durham, York and Sussex which aimed at understanding and critiquing the spectacular re-emergence of 'world literature' in the Anglo-American academy. James has lectured, given conference papers and published extensively on this and related subjects, including the representation of land and landscape in southern African writing; the work of Ivan Vladislavić and Yvonne Vera; the aesthetics of postcolonial urbanism; and the rise and fall of 'multiculturalism' in British film and fiction of the New Labour Years.


Current Teaching

James has developed and taught a wide range of modules, including: Brands, Media and Society; Visual Cultures; Writing the City; Advertising and PR in Context; Practices of Promotional Culture; Issues in Promotional Culture; Media for Advertising and Marketing; Marketing: PR and Promotion; Methods and Issues in Developing Research Projects; Independent Project.

James has extensive experience of supervising research projects at postgraduate levels, with four PhD completions:

Adrian Banting, ‘Forbidden Love in Muslim Britain’

Maitrayee Basu, ‘Assembling Authority: the Rise of Literary Journalism in India’

Giannina Warren, 'Cultural Intermediaries and Place Branding: A Framework for Understanding Their Impact and Influence'

Tsitsi Tsopotsa, ‘The impact of colonialism on feminism in Zimbabwean literature through a critical reading of the novels of Charles Mungoshi; Novel: The Other Shadows'


Biography

James is Deputy Dean for Education in the Facultyof Health, Social Care and Education. Asenior member of the Faculty Leadership Team, James has responsibility acrossthe Faculty for learning, teaching, assessment, quality assurance andenhancement, the student experience, student recruitment, academic partnershipsand the programme portfolio. 

James works collaboratively as part of a cross-University network of DeputyDeans, members of the University Executive Team (UET) and the PVC for Education& Student Experience to help build Middlesex’s performance and reputation forhigh-quality learning and teaching, and student experience both in the UK andinternationally.

Prior to this role James was Deputy Dean for Student Success in the Faculty ofArts and Creative Industries, following periods as Director of Programmes inMedia and Programme Leader for the BA Advertising, PR and Branding programme,leading its expansion and delivery internationally in London, Dubai, Mauritiusand Vietnam.

James has taught broadly across media andcommunications and researches in the fields of teaching and learning andpostcolonial media and literary studies. He was formerly the convenor of thePromotional Cultures Research Cluster and has supervised four PhDs tocompletion in this area. James is a Senior Fellow of the Higher EducationAcademy and was awarded 'Academic Staff Member of the Year' in the Faculty ofArts and Creative Industries at the 2018 Middlesex Student's Union Student-LedTeaching Awards.

Publications

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