Lecturer, University of Pretoria Dr Lizette Diedericks, a lecturer in the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences at the University of Pretoria, holds a PhD in consumer science, specialising in clothing management. Within her teaching role, Dr. Diedericks instructs undergraduate courses covering clothing construction, textiles, and fashion history. Simultaneously, she supervises postgraduate students pursuing studies in consumer science. Her doctoral research delved into the correlation between personal values, store image, and subsequent store choice. Her present research initiatives revolve around exploring the sensory dimensions inherent in clothing and textiles, aiming to understand how clothing enhances consumer well-being. In this interdisciplinary research, she has a longstanding relationship and collaboration with the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pretoria.
Research Associate in Compassion, University of the Witwatersrand I am a retreat facilitator, mindfulness mentor and researcher-practitioner, with a PhD in mindfulness and teacher education. I lead courses in mindfulness and compassion and run retreats throughout southern Africa. As a research associate at the University of the Witwatersrand, with Drama for Life, I supervise postgraduate students. My current focus on compassionate activism for a life-sustaining society aims to offer changemakers the skills they need to alleviate burnout, increase resilience, and cultivate wise, compassionate action. I have taken refuge in the Karma Kagyu School of Buddhism and the Engaged Buddhism tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. By attending regular retreats to deepen my own meditation practice, I am learning how ancient wisdom traditions can offer support as we address the many crises of modern life.
PhD Student, Political Science, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa Louis Massé is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Ottawa. His research interests are political economy, political sociology, and economic sociology, in Canada and other liberal democracies. He previously completed a MA and a B.Sc at the Université de Montréal in political science and political economy.
Research Fellow in History, University of York Louise read Medieval English and History at Birmingham University and has an MA In Archive Administration from UCL. She joined the Centre in 2009, having worked in partnership previously through her role at York Minster. Louise recently completed a part-time PhD at York on the history of the stained glass of York Minster since 1500. Louise worked in the archives sector in the county record offices of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, specialising in education and outreach and was Head of Collections at York Minster for many years. She co-authored 'York Minster: A Living Legacy' with Dr. Richard Shephard and the Very Revd Keith Jones and has written numerous popular articles on the Minster and its history. She wrote for the CD-ROMs Images of Salvation: the Story of the Bible through Medieval Art and Pilgrims and Pilgrimage and brokered the ongoing partnership between the Centre and York Minster. Louise was associate editor for both The English Parish Church through the Centuries and for the partner disk English Cathedrals and Monasteries through the Centuries, as well writing a number of articles for that disk too. Her research interests are stained glass, manuscript art and Viking and Anglo-Saxon culture.
PhD Candidate, Griffith University My professional cabin crew career spanned over the first two decades of this century. I have flown both domestic and internationally, and held a range of positions from line cabin crew to various ranks of cabin crew management. I hold a Master of Aviation Management (Distinction) from Griffith University and a Grad Cert in Work, Health and Safety from the University of Newcastle. I commenced my PhD at Griffith University, Nathan, Australia under scholarship. My research centres on gaining a clearer understanding of cabin crew well-being, particularly the impact of work-related stress on their physical, psychological, and social health outcomes.
PhD in English literature, University of Nottingham I studied English at Cambridge, before returning to my home town of Nottingham and doing a Creative Writing Masters. I have now moved onto a English literature PhD and am in my final year. My thesis is multi-disciplinary, engaging with the rise of pedestrian culture in the long nineteenth-century, and the implications that had for literature. Whilst studying part time I edit and advise on independent articles for a number of popular publications and broad scope of areas. I have continued my creative writing, publishing my most recent prize-winning book of poems ('Pegging Out') in 2021 with Indigo Dreams.
