Staff Profiles: Being Human - Past, Present and Future

I’m a playwright and a prose writer, whose work has been performed at The Everyman Studio in Cheltenham and published in The Lampeter Review, The Wrong Quarterly, Scrutiny Journal, Storgy Literary Magazine, The Dawntreader, Literary Mama, Brain, Child, and other magazines. My research interests include migrations, displacement and identity.

As a broadcast journalist for over twenty years, I took great pride in the quality of my news writing and story-telling. My aim is to share my experiences, helping students gain courage and skills to embrace opportunities in the news industry.

I am a director and writer, with a particular passion for regional and character driven stories. As well as writing and directing my own film work, I have vast experience working as a First AD, running sets on other productions, as well as shooting music videos, commercials and promos. I am an active filmmaker and enjoy sharing and drawing upon my own experiences, in order to help the development of my students.

I am a Television Producer with over 20 years experience in the industry. My most recent credits include Channel 4's award winning 'One Born Every Minute' and ITV1's 'Tipping Point'.

I am a contemporary literature specialist, with a background in gender and women's studies. My teaching and module tutor responsibilities include crime fiction, postcolonial writing, and contemporary American and British literature.

An artist and curator teaching mostly in postgraduate fine art and PhD supervision. I exhibit, lecture and examine internationally and have work in public, corporate and private art collections worldwide.

Richard Billingham is an artist, photographer, filmmaker and teacher. Work in public collections includes The Metropolitan Museum New York; San Francisco MOMA and the V&A and Tate Galleries London.

I am a Chartered Landscape Architect with 16 years applied experience in the public and private sector followed by 17 years in academia.

I am a collaborative curator and independent arts producer with particular interests in experimental artistic practices and generative processes of engagement with art and ideas.

My teaching addresses the contemporary circumstances in which art, design and visual communication are situated. I support our students to develop skills that combine research with practice, to think critically and inventively about their discipline of study, and to see further into their own creative futures.

I have been a journalist for 20 years and operate as a writer, video journalist, sub editor and designer. I am fascinated by the impact of social media on the media, and society as a whole.

I love the excitement of covering live events and rubbing shoulders with some of the big names in the sporting world. I specialise in using digital media to cover live sporting events, and I'm also really interested in sports journalism ethics.

Jonathan is a Lecturer in Sport Journalism at the University of Gloucestershire. He joined from Cardiff University where he was a lecturer and researcher. He Holds a PhD in Journalism Studies from Cardiff University. His research interests and publications lie in football culture, protest, sport media, and journalism.

An original 1991 graduate of the Editorial and Advertising Photography course, I have enjoyed a rich and diverse career as a creative professional in an exciting and ever changing media industry.

I’ve worked in further education colleges and producing shows like Later….With Jools Holland and the One Show. I’ve also been part of a local television network editing shows for Big Centre TV in Birmingham and other local production companies.

Like every dedicated nerd, I have been passionate about animation since childhood. It is everything one could want as an art and entertainment form, and it is only getting more so. Teaching its history, forms and genres is a pleasure.

I am a film maker who works experimentally with sound, film and poetry.

How do we prepare students for an ever-changing Digital Media industry - and for the jobs of the future - while remaining world-leaders in traditional communications? That's one of the most exciting things about what I do!

My love of eighteenth-century literature began whilst studying the poetry of Alexander Pope at school and I discovered the Romantics whilst reading English Literature at university.

I’ve worked in the music business for over 10 years as a songwriter, musician, record label director and live music promoter. I‘ve 12 years live and touring experience, including USA, Japan and Europe.

I am proud to run one of the most highly rated Media Schools in the UK, and what gets me out of bed in the morning is my determination to provide the best possible start for our students in their future careers in Media or Music.

I am a writer with special interest in crime fiction as a reflection of contemporary society.

An internationally award-winning film director and producer, Lindsey started out in TV documentary (Channel 4, BBC, History Channel) then moved into independent cinema. She has produced and directed Emmy®-winning shorts and features that have won at Sundance and the Webbys, been shortlisted for Oscar nomination, and broadcast on Netflix, PBS, BBC and others.

I specialise in the interpretation of biblical and extra-biblical texts and ancient legal papyri using social-scientific ideas and perspectives to open up new lines of enquiry and to help understand the results.

I am a freelance illustrator/illustration technician and co-founder of OTA Press. I run the annual Risograph publication 'The Unseen' and put together the publication for the Illustration course's 'Cheltenham Illustration Awards' every year.

I am a Broadcaster with 18 years in the TV industry.

I write and teach poetry and have published four poetry books, Occupation (2009), Lessons in Mallemaroking (2011), Hide (2013). and The Hill (2017). I also have an interest in writing for well-being and run writing workshops in the community.

I’ve loved animation since I was a kid, and still spend my spare time absorbed in it. Now I’m older I want to create things my little boy can enjoy, and it’s great to be able to do that. I’m basically a big animation geek.

I work on music (video, music documentary, age, gender). I produce community media and film. I am currently working on an Erasmus+ project on digital storytelling.

I’ve exhibited my installational and digital work at leading London galleries and internationally and have been closely involved with artist-run spaces in the UK and abroad. At the university, I supervise individual research projects.

What I love most about teaching is the opportunity to introduce students to films that not only challenge them to rethink what cinema is now, but more importantly, what it could be in the future.

Hannah is Academic Course Leader for the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice and the Academic Professional Apprenticeship.

Radio is magic - it can bring me to tears, have me howling with laughter or dancing around my kitchen. I’m passionate about music, storytelling and creating pictures with sound and radio provides all of that.

I am a radio specialist audio technician, freelance producer, sound engineer, musician, and graduate of the University of Gloucestershire.

As a technician, I get an equal pleasure from using and demonstrating hand tools and high technology.

I'm a novelist and Lecturer in Creative Writing. I teach historical fiction, the short story, autobiography and on the critical side, my research encompasses queer fiction and the endings of novels.

I teach Russian and Soviet history and historical research methods.

I'm a specialist in Shakespeare studies and I'm particularly interested in what his plays meant at the time they were written and how they were performed on his own stage.

As a Technician Demonstrator at the University of Gloucestershire I work with a range of students, academics and senior staff to deliver high quality technical services.

I am a Reader in the Philosophy of Religion, teaching courses on Islam, Nietzsche, Greek philosophy, and philosophy of religion.

I am passionate about fighting cultural ageism through my own and collaborative research activism. As a manager, mentor and supervisor my role is to support early career researchers to produce research that empowers women to not fear growing old.

I'm the author of three novels and I'm now writing a non-fiction book about European history. I teach prose fundamentals, short story writing, and theory for writers.

I've wanted to be a writer since the fifth grade. I love story, whether it's made up or true-to-life. My family is chock-full of storytellers, and I'm glad to be continuing the tradition.

I’m a lover of beats, sounds and spaces and have a background in producing electronic and urban music. More recently I’ve been specialising in spatial sound and it’s potential for new auditory experience.

I have always been fascinated by sound, recording and editing audio is an incredible way to work creatively.

I teach and write philosophy. In a world of cynicism, opportunism and anxiety, I hope, by the end of the course, my students have the courage to be themselves.

I've been working in the media industry for more than 20 years, both as a journalist and a television director. I have produced content for organisations including the BBC and The Sunday Times.

Biblical and theological perspectives offer sometimes surprising, sometimes problematic insights on what it means to be human. I’m fascinated by the hard questions they provoke for understanding who we are and how we might live.

I've made, listened to and talked about music for as long as I can remember. I love the challenge of working out where to take music next as there’s always another way of playing or singing it. The future of music has never felt more exciting.

Administrator for 8 courses across Journalism, Music and Media subject areas

I completed a BA and MA in Linguistics, before doing a PhD in Linguistics at the University of Reading. My research area is Sociolinguistics and Dialectology. I specialise in developing theoretical models of the diffusion of language change.

I teach Biblical Studies, particularly Old Testament, but have a broad interest in Christian theology. I try to show that theology has a continuing and urgent relevance to the modern world.

I love reporting on live sport. To be there covering events that the rest of the world is watching on TV is an unbelievable buzz.

I teach the craft of writing poetry, and modules related to my other areas of interest, including cognitive stylistic methods of analysing texts; the creative processes involved in writing; and how language is processed in the brain.

I teach a wide variety of modules across English and Creative Writing. My research interests include: literature and the environment, literature and spirituality, poetry, and creative writing pedagogy.

I am a TV documentary producer and director. I'm also currently working on a PhD about our emotional engagement with documentary. I have 20 years experience in the TV industry on productions for BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Channel 5 and Sky.

Bob Moore is a senior lecturer in Landscape Architecture.

Nic Morris, BSC is a Senior Lecturer who brings to students his professional experience as Director of Photography on award winning films, such as Firelight, directed by William Nicholson, which won the San Sebastian Silver Seashell for Best Cinematography, and was nominated for the prestigious BSC Best Cinematography award.

Matthew Murray shoots above the line advertising campaigns for some of the worlds leading advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi, M&C Saatchi, TBWA, VCCP, Leo Burnett, BBDO/CLM, Paris, BWM, Sydney. Editorials clients VICE, i-D Magazine, Port Magazine, Independent, Guardian, Dazed Digital.

I am a Senior Lecturer in American history, teaching courses on democracy and slavery in the 19th century, reconstruction and the South after the Civil War, major themes in 20th century US history, and the long civil rights movement.

Academic Services Manager for the School of Media

Passionate about sport from top level to grassroots and out covering matches every weekend. Fascinated by the constant changing of the sports media landscape and the impact this has on the way journalists go about their work.

I have loved animation ever since I can remember, so a chance to work in the animation industry and to teach animation is just a joy!

I began making films with political exiles in London before moving to Wales where I have been based since 1987. I have produced BAFTA award winning documentaries, comedy, drama and feature films.

I am a photographer and writer, exploring the political effects of representing landscape, place and environment. I started my career as a landscape photographer, exhibiting and publishing disorientating images, and moved on to more overtly political practice.

I am a lecturer in early modern history with research interests in seventeenth-century Britain and interdisciplinary expertise in memory, commemoration and post-conflict studies in early modern Europe.

Kieren Phelps is the Course Leader and lead tutor on the MA Illustration course, an innovative and wide-ranging programme that focuses on narrative drawing as a way of re-evaluating Illustration practice.

My main area of specialisation is the study of the sacred texts of Christianity and Judaism in the context of the ancient world together with considerations of how these texts have been appropriated more recently.

I am a lecturer and film-maker, with a love of film, its form and meaning.

A freelance journalist and former magazine Editor, Anna has many years' experience of writing and editing for national newspapers and magazines, both in print and online.

Before joining this university I worked for BBC TV in London for over 20 years. For most of that time I was a post-production editor working on a very wide range of programmes from Blue Peter and Top of the Pops, to Match of the Day.

I am a painter, writer and curator as well as being a HE Arts administrator. I work with International colleagues the majority of the time and have completed large projects in both India and Holland.

I teach prose on all three undergraduate levels and my specialisms include the American short story, experimental writing, theories of the novel, historical fiction and transgressive writing.

I have a specialist interest in European Intellectual History, and am particularly interested in the relationship between race, religion and historiography in the nineteenth century.

Religion gets a mixed press these days and it seems ever more important to be well-informed about it as both a conceptual system and a way of living.

As a musician and producer I work on a wide range of projects, from creating albums at sea, scoring internationally toured theatre soundtracks, to working with vocal virtuosos.

I’m a musician, audio/visual technician, freelance drummer and a graduate of London College of Music.

Having worked for a number of years in the animation and vfx industry, it is my pleasure to now pass on the knowledge gained from this experience to a new generation of animation and vfx professionals.

Internationally award-winning film and TV writer and director of feature films (for Film4), short films (BAFTA winning and Oscar short listed) TV comedy drama (for CBBC and C5) and multi-camera TV drama director for BBC and ITV (EastEnders, Emmerdale).

I've been passionate about modern art since studying it as an undergraduate so I am delighted to be able to share my enthusiasm through my teaching. My interests include abstraction, minimalism, Andy Warhol, street photography and aesthetic theories.

I'm a pianist, songwriter-producer and DJ with a love of vinyl records, pop and funk/soul music, who wrote for, managed & toured with record labels in the 90s and 00s. I lecture in professional practice specialising in music & media entrepreneurship.

My creative work spans teaching, art making, exhibition making, writing and research.

In my teaching and research I focus on how language makes us who we are as people, and the role of language in building the kind of society we live in, using discourse analysis and ecolinguistics.

My background spans Entertainment, Documentary and Drama.

My background is in theatre directing and writing and I specialise in multimedia theatre. I'm founder director of the performance company Void which presents work internationally. I teach contemporary performance - practice and theory.

I am passionately interested in storytelling, and how screen stories are told and made. I have developed film scripts through to production and am very experienced in teaching screenwriting.

I write drama and comedy for stage, TV & radio. I’m passionate about introducing students to the professional scriptwriting world, passing on tools for success alongside theoretical understanding. I also write children’s books.

As A&R manager, music journalist and presenter, Ben has worked in the music business over the 30 years. From overseeing the career of platinum-selling Sleeper to writing bestselling The Art Of The LP, Ben has a unique industry perspective.

As a former medievalist I know that where we begin may not be where we find ourselves eventually. My road took me from a bookshop in London to an academic career via several years living, working and studying in the USA.

I am a course leader, active researcher in circular thinking.

My love of religion stems from several years spent with a backpack, travelling through Australasia, East Asia and India encountering Maoris, Buddhists and Hindus, sharing food and exchanging thoughts and experiences.

I've taught, made films and have published various essays for many years. I really enjoy working with students to help them develop their own unique talents.