Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Dr Jenna Pitchford-Hyde joined the University of East Anglia in 2012. She is Associate Professor in Humanities in the Interdisciplinary Institute for Humanities, where she is currently Postgraduate Teaching Director for IIH and teaches on the HUM Foundation Year , BA Liberal Arts, and MA Gender Studies courses.
Jenna’s research focuses on contemporary war narratives in literature and media. She explores the military and post-military experience through a range of content analysis, audience response, and dialogical approaches (with military veterans) with particular interests in masculinity, technology, and disability studies.
Areas of Expertise
- War and conflict in literature and media (20th and 21st century, especially addressing the Gulf and Iraq wars).
- Representations of veterans in literature, media, and the museum sector.
- Veteran-led research on representation of veterans and developing guidelines and policy for organisations (e.g. media, government, charities).
- Representation of identities in contemporary literature and media, especially in terms of masculinity, disability, and technology.
- Diversity and inclusivity in the media.
I am happy to consult with external organisations and supervise postgraduate work in any of the above areas.
Teaching Interests
Jenna convenes the ‘Literature and Humanities’ module, co-convenes an MA Gender Studies module ‘The Body, Gender, and Violence: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives’, and teaches undergraduate modules in Cultural Studies, Literature, and Research Methods.
Jenna's broader teaching interests include gender studies, media studies, and interdisciplinary literary and cultural studies, as well as 19th, 20th and 21st century British and American literature, especially postmodern literature; post-World War II conflict narratives (especially Vietnam, Cold War, Gulf and Iraq War, and 9/11 literature); gender and masculinity studies; queer theory; and critical theory.
Jenna has previously taught across a wide range of subject areas including Literature, American Studies, History, Cultural Studies, and Journalism.
She welcomes potential PhD candidates on the themes of gender, military identities, technology, and disability studies, in media and literature.
Key Research Interests
Jenna's research examines themes of identity, masculinity, technology, and disability with a focus on audience reception, as well as content analysis of a range of narrative forms.
Jenna is PI and Professor Katy Parry (University of Leeds) is Co-I on the Veterans and the Media Project which focuses on evaluating representations of veterans in media and culture, and works with organisations to achieve fair representation of veterans (Veterans and the Media Project).
Jenna has published on novels, memoir, poetry, film, television series, blogs, videogames, photography, art, and social media. Jenna has previously published on Iraqi responses to the 2003 Iraq War, trauma and videogames, African American identity, masculinity in literature of the Iraq wars, and representations of veterans in the media.
Current projects include:
- A monograph entitled Masculinity and Identity in Contemporary War Fiction: US Representations in the Gulf and Iraq Wars (Routledge, forthcoming 2025).
- A collaborative journal article with Dr Katy Parry (University of Leeds) on the representation of Falklands and Northern Ireland veterans in museums (submitted and currently under review).
- A collaborative AHRC funded impact project with Professor Katy Parry (Univeristy of Leeds) focusing on representations of military veterans in the British media. Project title: ‘Where’s their story?’: Evaluating curatorial practice and audience reception of the new ‘Northern Ireland: Living with the Troubles’ exhibition at the IWM'.
- A book chapter, “Why Balance is the Key to Wellbeing” for inclusion in the proposed collection on self-care in academia edited by Associate Professor Narelle Lemon.
Grants and Funding
2023-4: AHRC IAA Rapid Response Fund £4000 - Project title: "Where's Their Story?: Evaluating curatorial practice and audience reception of the new ‘Northern Ireland: Living with the Troubles’ exhibition at the IWM'". Dr Jenna Pitchford-Hyde is PI and Dr Katy Parry (University of Leeds) is Co-I on the project with Imperial War Museum as project partners.
2022: Publication Fund grant £100
2021: Athena Swan Career Development Award £1000
2021: HUM Strategic Fund Award £1000
2014: Sir Philip Reckitt Educational Trust (SPRET) travel grant towards air travel and accommodation to enable contribution to an interdisciplinary workshop ‘Minds and Bodies at War: Medicine, Ethics and Representation’ at the European Association for American Studies conference, ‘America: Justice, Conflict, War’, held in The Hague, 2014.
2012: Peace and Conflict Studies Program Travel Bursary, Colgate University, New York State, US (£1000 to participate in the Wars Beyond War workshop).
2007: British Association for American Studies/ US Embassy Short Term Travel Award (£750 to conduct archival research into Persian Gulf War and Iraq War literature in the US).
2006: Nottingham Trent University Vice-Chancellor’s Award Doctoral Studentship (fully funded).
Administrative Posts
Jenna is Postgraduate Teaching Director for IIH . She is also academic adviser for undergraduate and MA students.
Jenna works on the IIH Exec team, the Extenuating Circumstances Panel, Exam Board, and is in IIH's Athena Swan Working Group.
Jenna worked with colleagues across the Faculty and ARM to develop a Widening Participation strategy for the Humanities Foundation Year.
Previously, she has co-ordinated a range of Faculty-wide outreach sessions and projects for Norfolk schools aimed at widening participation in Higher Education, including themed visit days, collaborative inter-institutional residential visits, on-going projects in local schools, subject brochures (aimed at year 9 students choosing their options for GCSE) and projects with local community groups.
Jenna also developed an outreach training programme for PhD students which was later rolled out to help train doctoral students in other Faculties.
Research Group or Lab Membership
Jenna is currently part of a team of academics who are developing the MeCCSA Disability Network to work on new interdisciplinary collaborative projects internationally.
In 2012, Jenna worked with colleagues on the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, Colgate University (NY), to establish an international interdisciplinary research network of scholars which challenges simplified definitions of contemporary conflict. The ‘Wars Beyond War’ research group is currently working on an online project addressing the future of warfare. The aim of this research is to engage the public in interdisciplinary discussions about the impact of contemporary warfare in sociological, political, and cultural terms.
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
External positions
External Examiner for the Undergraduate Preparatory Certificate for Humanities, University College London
2017 → 2021
Projects
- 1 Finished
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"Where's their story?" Evaluating curatorial practice and audience reception of the new "Northern Ireland: Living with the Troubles" exhibition at the IWM
12/12/23 → 30/06/24
Project: Internal Funding › AHRC IAA Fund
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"Is that it?": Veteran reflections on the Falklands 40th Anniversary and Northern Ireland Peacekeeping exhibitions at the Imperial War Museum London
Pitchford-Hyde, J. & Parry, K., 6 Jan 2025, In: International Journal of Communication. 19, 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
Why are Gender Reveal Parties Problematic?
Pitchford-Hyde, J., 20 Feb 2023Research output: Other contribution
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‘We may have bad days… that doesn’t make us killers’: How military veterans perceive contemporary British media representations of military and post-military life
Parry, K. & Pitchford-Hyde, J., Sept 2023, In: Media, War and Conflict. 16, 3, p. 440-458 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (SciVal)16 Downloads (Pure) -
Masculinity, Identity, and Disabled Veterans: How British Audiences Respond to Representations of Military Veterans on Prime Time BBC Programmes
Pitchford-Hyde, J., 1 Jan 2022, Rhetoric of Masculinity: Male Body Image, Media, and Gender Role Stress/Conflict. Pompper, D., Allison, M. C., Brandley, B., Brooke, M., Burnette, A. & Cariviou, J. (eds.). Lexington BooksResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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The Veterans Administration and PTSD: Challenges and Changes from Vietnam to Iraq
Pitchford-Hyde, J., Aug 2022, The Edinburgh Companion to the Politics of American Health. Halliwell, M. & Jones, S. (eds.). Edinburgh University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
Activities
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Conflict and Society (Journal)
Jenna Pitchford-Hyde (Peer reviewer)
2024Activity: Editorial work › Publication peer-review
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How are veterans represented in media (UK)?: Consultancy for Help for Heroes on upcoming charity campaign
Jenna Pitchford-Hyde (Consultant)
13 Jan 2022Activity: Consultancy
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Consultancy (in-kind) for the charity Help for Heroes
Jenna Pitchford-Hyde (Consultant)
2022 → …Activity: Consultancy
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MeCCSA Disability Network (External organisation)
Jenna Pitchford-Hyde (Member)
2018 → …Activity: Membership › Network, Working Group or Professional Association
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College Literature: A Journal of Critical Literary Studies (Journal)
Jenna Pitchford-Hyde (Peer reviewer)
2017 → …Activity: Editorial work › Publication peer-review
Press/Media
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Jonnie Peacock’s Strictly experience highlights the need to rethink how disability is represented on TV
24/11/17
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Media Coverage or Contribution