Dr Teresa Piacentini
- Senior Lecturer (Sociological & Cultural Studies)
telephone:
0141 330 5076
email:
Teresa.Piacentini@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 1004, Adam Smith Building, Glasgow, G12 Hrt
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9180-7752Research interests
KEY AREAS OF INTEREST: MIGRATION AND BORDERING, ASYLUM AND REFUGEES, SETTLEMENT AND BELONGING, SOLIDARITY AND RESISTANCE
I am an experienced researcher, teacher and activist and have spent most of my professional and academic career teaching and researching about the experiences of people seeking asylum and refugees in Scotland. Prior to my PhD (2012) I worked for ten years as a community interpreting Scotland, working in the asylum sector and with a range of public sector and third sector agencies.
My teaching and research interests lie in the broad field of migration studies covering the various aspects of social, cultural and political life affecting people's experiences of making Scotland their home. I research and teach about ‘settlement’, belonging and adopt a critical engagement with what we mean by 'integration'. My interests extends to associational practices; access to services; community mobilisation practices; solidarity and resistance; interpreting and translation.
Three interlinked areas are central to my work:
(1) everyday bordering practices as they relate to people in the asylum process and refugees,
(2) the creation and development of spaces of solidarity and resistance to bordering within refugee populations and grass roots / third sector organisations.
(3) developing critical pedagogical practice around the teaching of migration in the political now. http://www.criticalpedagogymigration.wordpress.com/
Grants
Radical Pedagogies in HE and Community Learning (2024). Event. Funder: Sociology Research Intiative Fund
Scotland in Lockdown (Co-I) (2020) Social and health impacts of COVID-19 suppression in vulnerable groups, £186,869 Chief Scientist Office of Scotland Funded Research under Rapid Covid-19
The worlding classroom: connecting places, disciplines and positionalities to discuss migration, asylum and borders. (PI) (2019) £14,480, Glasgow-Radboud Fund, University of Glasgow
Rethinking the researching and teaching of migration in the political now! One-day workshop. June 2018. £850.00 Funder: Sociology Incentivisation Fund, University of Glasgow
"Experience of camp/non-camp displacement: building learning from Jordan to build learning in Jordan". (PI) Feb 2017. £6235.00. Funder: SFC-GCRF
"Improving Interpreting Practice in Healthcare Settings". (PI) University of Glasgow. Project Partners NHSGGC Equalities. September 2016. £5463.12. Funder: ESRC-IAA
Supervision
PhD supervision
I welcome any enquiries for PhD supervision around asylum and refugee migration, experiences and practices of settlement, borders and bordering, solidarity, resistance and community mobilisation, detention, race and racialisaion in relation to migration.
Postgraduate Dissertation Supervision
- MSc/MRes Global Migrations and Social Justice
- MSc/MRes Sociology and Research Methods
Undergraduate Dissertation Supervision
- Single & Joint Honours Sociology
- Balasingham, Harishankar
Exploring the unheard voices of Sri Lankan Tamil youth
Teaching
Honours teaching
- SOCIO4107 Contemporary Migration in a Global perspective (Sem 1)
- SOCIO4108 Migration, multiculturalism and Belonging (Sem 2) (Convenor)
Masters
- contributor to Global Migrations: Structures, Histories, Experiences
Additional information
Research Projects
Scotland in Lockdown
Scotland in Lockdown | How have Covid-19 measures affected your life?
This is the website of the study: “Health and social impacts of Covid-19 in Scotland” also known as Scotland in Lockdown. It was funded by the Chief Scientist Office (Scottish Government) and conducted by researchers at Glasgow University. The study was carried out between July and December 2020 and sought to understand how Covid-19 restrictions affected people in groups already facing isolation and exclusion.
Ethical interpreting in health care settings in Scotland
This 2 year interdisciplinary research project (2012 - 2014) explored the experiences of practitioners, interpreters and service users who are grappling with issues and challenges of intercultural communication in clinical and non-clinical health care settings. Using an innovative mixed method design, we produced 5 short films and supporting materials to help develop a more reflexive practice, and provide stimuli for debate on how to address the complexities of working in and through different language contexts. This project is of significance for the development of Scotland’s future generations of health care providers and interpreters.
- For more information and free access to the project resources visit the project website
- Watch a short film about the project
Funded by the ARHC, SFC and British Council
Knowledge Exchange
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Co-Convenor and Steering Group Member of GRAMNet, University of Glasgow Refugee, Aslyum and Migration Research Network
- Associate Fellow, Third Sector Research Centre, (TSRC) University of Birmingham (Feb 2011- present) www.tsrc.ac.uk
- Member of Scottish Refugee Council Refugee Research Network (2008 - present)
- Research advisor on community organisations, Scottish Refugee Council, Community Development Team (2009 - 2010)
- Research advisor on developing practice guidelines and codes of conduct for interpreters and service users, Glasgow Violence Against Women Partnership (2009 - 2010)
- Member, British Sociological Association (since 2008)
- Member, European Sociological Association (since 2007)
- Profile featured in BSA Network magazine, ‘Desert Island Discourse’ (2009)
I regularly attend national and international conferences, seminars, and workshops and have developed an extensive network of contacts across the UK in my own, and related fields of expertise.
Reports and Research consultancy
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Conference Report for International Conference on Human Rights Education & Active Citizenship, BEMIS , November 2011
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Principal Researcher on a 3-month Oxfam funded research project “Equality Act 2010: Law into Practice”. This was a Participatory research project, working with BME/Refugee populations, exploring experiences of discrimination, raising awareness of new legislation, and presenting findings to a policy-maker audience at a project-end conference November 2011.
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Oxfam-Karibu Research Report, “Law into Practice: experiences of discrimination”, November 2011
