Emma Huddlestone joined the University of East Anglia in November 2021 as a Lecturer in Sociology.

Prior to this, she spent a year at the University of York's Department of Politics where she completed her ESRC-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship (2020-2021). This project titled 'Bringing the Homefront to the Forefront' explored the ways in which civilian partners of military personnel are framed within welfare providers’ policies and provision, and how these framings are challenged by partners' lived experiences. It built significantly upon her PhD research which she completed at Lancaster University's Sociology Department (2015-2019). Through the thematic analysis of interviews with army partners and formal support providers, her thesis explored partners’ navigation and negotiation of coping strategies during the period of deployment. Notably, she found that gendered, militarised constructs of role-expectations limited the likelihood of support-seeking when required.

Furthermore, as a Research Assistant/Associate Emma has contributed to projects at Lancaster University (Military Lives and Transformative Experiences, Community Vulnerability and Well-being in a Rural Village, and Situational and Structural Risks in Gambling) and the University of Lincoln (Breadwinning Mums, Caregiving Dads: Transforming Gender in Work and Childcare?). She also worked as a Policy and Research Officer at the charity Army Families Federation between her PhD and Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Emma's research interests include: 

• Military sociology and critical military studies
• Gender and military spouse's labour
• Stigma and welfare provision
• Qualitative methodologies

Emma is a Lecturer in Sociology and teaches across the Sociology programme. Modules include:

• The Military, Security and Society
• Researching Social Life
• Dissertation
• Social Policy and Social Justice
• Wellbeing and Welfare
• Applied Social Theory
• Child Observation Using a Sociological Analysis
• Gender, Victimsation and Offending
• Equality and Diversity
• Social Problems and Solutions

Welfare, stigma, militarism, gender, qualitative research, critical research. 

Emma co-founded and co-organises the Rethinking Military Spouses: Critical Research Group. Click here to read about the background of this group. 

She is also a member of the Eurpean Research Group on Military and Society's Military Families working group.