Dr Gillian McFadyen
PhD (Aberystwyth University) MSc Postcolonial Politics (Aberystwyth University) MSc International Politics (University of Glasgow) BA(Hons) Social Science (Glasgow Caledonian University)
, HEA FellowLecturer
Department of International Politics
Contact Details
- Email: gmm09@aber.ac.uk
- Office: 2.06, International Politics Building
- Phone: +44 (0) 1970 622695
- Twitter: GillianMcFadyen
- Research Portal Profile
Profile
Dr Gillian McFadyen is a Lecturer in International Politics. She is the Deputy Director of Recruitment, Admission and Marketing for InterPol and sits on the Aber University Research Ethics Panel. Gillian's research focuses on the international refugee regime, with a particular focus on the British refugee system.
Gillian has a PhD from Aberystwyth, as well as degrees from Aber (MSc), Glasgow (MSc) and Glasgow Caledonian (BA Hons). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a 2021 alum of the Welsh Crucible.
Teaching
Module Coordinator
- IP12520 - Globalization and Global Development
- IPM2120 - Research in Politics and International Studies
Lecturer
- IP12520 - Globalization and Global Development
- IPM2120 - Research in Politics and International Studies
Tutor
Moderator
Coordinator
- IP12520 - Globalization and Global Development
- IPM2120 - Research in Politics and International Studies
Gillian teaches in the area of International Politics and Global Development, covering modules on Global Politics, Global Development and Refugee Politics/Simulation. In 2020 she won the Aber SU Student and Staff Award for Creative Teaching.
Research
Gillian's research engages with the area of refugee studies. She is particularly interested in refugee law, the British Asylum system, EU asylum process, as well as applying theories such as hospitality, labelling and postcolonialism to the refugee regime. She also has an interest in memory, trauma, silence and their application to refugee politics. Gillian's first book, Refugees in Britain: Practices of Hospitality and Labelling was published with Edinburgh University Press (2020). The book intertwines theories of hospitality and labelling, and applies them to the British refugee regime, arguing that the British refugee regime has developed towards an externalised humanitarian hospitality. The book examines counter-discourses by examining local practices of British hospitality and showing acts of solidarity and resistance that challenge the statist logic. The result is a theoretically informed account of the British approach to externalisation and geographical seclusion of refugees, particularly in response to the current Mediterranean Crisis
A secondary field of research, sees her focuses on political embroidery, using stitching and craftivism as a method of resistance, memory, activism and story-telling. This research has seen her work on multiple projects at the national and international level, with exhibitions at the Tate Modern, Liverpool (2018), British Refugee Council Archives, London (2019) and Bordando Por la Memoria Project.
In this thread, Gillian is working on an interdisciplinary project with researchers from Swansea and Northumbria University - Maternal Guilt Quilt- an innovative project that explores maternal emotional experiences, through a digitally augmented quilt- through touching the quilt, embedded audio narratives are heard of mothers experiences of feeding. With the quilt complete, we are focusing on utilizing the quilt as a tool kit to take to health professionals in order to improve and support perinatal mental health in Wales.
Expertise: Gillian is interested in supervising projects in the following areas: refugee, asylum, hospitality, labelling, memory, trauma, language, detention, postcolonialism, colonial legacies, human rights, political embroidery, propaganda.
PhDs to completion:
Dr Chloe Sydney
Dr Joanne Elliott
Responsibilities
Gillian is the Visiting and Open Day Coordinator for the Director of Recruitment, Admission and Marketing.
Office Hours (Student Contact Times)
- Tuesday 9:30-10:30
- Thursday 2:30-3:30