Personal profile

Administrative Posts

As Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Arts and Humanities at UEA (2017-2024), my primary role was to serve as broker, translator and champion for the work of our Faculty staff and students internally and externally and to emphasise the positive and profound value and impact of our subjects on individuals and society.

I have a varied background in HE in terms of institution and subject, along with wide experience of leadership roles in the arts, culture, education and human rights sectors beyond HE.

The role was also very much one of providing the best possible environment – cultural as well as physical - for all staff and students in our Faculty. To that end, I worked with and via our full Faculty Executive team and the University’s support services.

My cross-University leadership activities at UEA have been in Employability and in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, both enormously important areas that cut across all of our work and provide many opportunities for developing new partnerships.

I have also led on multiple cultural-civic activities with small, media and large organisations that make an impact on our region, including developing major partnership agreements with Norwich Theatres, National Centre for Writing and Norfolk Museums Service. During my tenure, I was a member of the Norfolk and Suffolk Culture Board; the Norwich Creative City Compact; Norwich Forum Trust Board; National Centre for Writing Board of Trustees. I continue to serve as member of the Arts Council England's South East Area Council (2024-2027).

Biography

I came to UEA in 2017 and had the great privilege of serving as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for 7 years. From September 2024, I am Professor of Film and Media with specialisms in Latin American cinemas and cultures, particularly Peruvian film.

Prior to UEA, I worked at the University of Lincoln for just over 7 years, as Deputy Head of the College of Arts, as staff member of the Board of Governors and as Head of School for Film and Media. I also represented the University on the Lincoln Cultural Arts Partnership board.

Before Lincoln, I led the English, Film, Communications and Media Studies department at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, which included a comprehensive languages programme, and for a period was Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching there.

I have undertaken several external roles, including as Board member of the Media Archives for Central England, as Chair of the Trustees of Wintercomfort for the Homeless, as Trustee for the English and Media Centre, a national body for literacy, member of the Board of Threshold Studios (a digital media agency), and as a founding board member of the Cambridgeshire Film Consortium. I also served as Chair of the Latin America Network for Universities UK International between 2021 and 2024.

As a first generation university student, I read Modern Languages at St John's College, Cambridge where my passion for film began when I was encouraged to explore it as a medium through which to discover new cultures. I completed an Erasmus-funded Master’s in European Film and Media, based in Dijon and Manchester, before returning to work in the International Projects Division of the University of Cambridge’s Examinations Syndicate. I travelled across South East Asia, teaching in community centres and helping to train English teachers. 

I completed my PhD at Sheffield in Hispanic Studies and continue to conduct research on Latin American cinema and cultural policy, travelling to the region annually for fieldwork.

I'm currently leading two major funded projects: a study of Peruvian women filmmakers; and an interdisciplinary study on female-led leadership models in the Peruvian Amazon.

 

Areas of Expertise

Latin American cinemas

Peruvian cinema, media and culture

Arts, place-making and cultural policy

 

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):

  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action

Education/Academic qualification

Doctor of Philosophy, Peruvian Cinema, National Identity and Political Violence, 1988–2004, University of Sheffield

Award Date: 1 Mar 2007

Diplome d'Etudes Cinema, Universite de Bourgogne

Award Date: 31 Jul 1992

Bachelor of Arts, Modern and Medieval Languages (French and Spanish), University of Cambridge

Award Date: 14 Jun 1991

Master of Arts, European Media and Film Studies , University of Manchester

External positions

Board Member (South East Area), The Arts Council of England

1 Jan 20241 Jun 2027

Chair, Universities UK International (Latin America Network)

6 Jun 202130 Nov 2024

Member, Norwich Creative City Compact

3 Jun 202025 Sept 2024

Specialist Advisor, HE, Norfolk and Suffolk Culture Board

1 Jun 2019 → …

Trustee, National Centre for Writing

23 Aug 20175 Dec 2024

Board Member, The Forum

24 Jul 20177 Oct 2024

Trustee, Media Archive for Central England

1 Jan 201521 Jul 2017

Trustee, English and Media Centre

1 Jun 20147 Jan 2019

Advisory Group - Academic Book of the Future, Arts and Humanities Research Council

1 Jan 20141 Jun 2017

Advisor (Creative Arts), OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations)

3 Jan 20121 Feb 2018

Chair of Trustees, Wintercomfort for the Homeless

1 Jan 199431 Dec 2001

Media Expertise

  • Media studies
  • American Studies