School of Social & Political Sciences

August has been a busy month with new staff members joining the School in three of our subject areas. We are pleased to welcome Simon Joss, Professor of Urban Futures; Ian Paterson, Lecturer in Central and East European Studies and Tutor in Politics; Justine Gangneux, Tutor in Sociology; and Sharon Greenwood, Tutor in Urban Studies. 

Simon Joss
Simon, who is originally from Switzerland, obtained an MSc degree from the University of Bern, before moving to the UK where he completed his PhD at Imperial College (London). His research has since focused on the governance of environmental and urban issues, particularly concerning new policy arrangements and governance networks and how these can be rendered effective and publicly accountable. Since 2009, he has co-directed the International Eco-Cities Initiative as a collaborative platform for both research and policy and public engagement, attracting funding from the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC), the Leverhulme Trust and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. Apart from research and teaching, Simon held managerial roles as head of department and director of Graduate School while at the University of Westminster (London). At the University of Glasgow, Simon will be involved in consolidating cross-university interdisciplinary research on urban futures, developing new national and international partnerships, as well as contributing to the next phase of the Urban Big Data Centre.

Ian Paterson
Ian recently graduated from our PhD programme with a thesis focusing on the securitisation of migration and the dynamic between elite cues and immigration attitudes. Ian has taught across several courses in the Politics subject, at each degree level, since 2014. His new role in the School will involve contributing to several modules, including 'Introduction to International Relations'. Ian’s research interests include international security studies; securitisation theory; migration politics; and religion in politics. He has recently published in the Journal of Politics and International Relations. In his spare time Ian is a keen follower of Raith Rovers football club. Ian will work in both Central and East European Studies (CEES) and Politics but will be based in CEES. 

Justine Gangneux
Justine is joining the School as a Tutor in Sociology. She recently completed her doctoral research in Sociology at the University. Her thesis examined young people's engagement with social media platforms and the complex ways in which their digital practices and understandings of the platforms were informed by their techno-social structures and by broader social and power relations. Justine is interested in a range of subjects including the sociology of youth, the mediation of everyday life by digital data and technologies, the responsibility and power unbalance between social media corporations and users, the ideology which shapes understandings of technology and data, as well as the use of social media and innovative methods in social research.

Sharon Greenwood
Sharon completed her PhD in Sociology at the University in 2018. Her ESRC-funded doctoral research used a range of innovative qualitative methods to explore the lives of young adults (aged 16-30) affected by parental alcohol and/or drug use. Using Bacchi’s approach to policy analysis, Sharon considered the construction of the ‘problem’ of parental substance use using the narrative accounts of her participants. Sharon has worked in the school as a Graduate Teaching Assistant since 2013, supporting Sociology, Social and Public Policy, and Qualitative Methods at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She is an experienced qualitative researcher, particularly with ‘vulnerable’ populations. During her PhD, Sharon worked on a collaborative Scottish Government funded project unpacking the prevalence, motives, and consequences of New Psychoactive Substance use in Scotland. She is the co-founder of DAWF - Drugs, Alcohol, Women and Families (www.dawfconference.com) - an international network of academics, practitioners, policy makers and those with lived experience concerned with improving the lives of women, children, young people, and families affected by problem substance use.

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First published: 29 August 2018