Will Haynes

Broadly speaking, Will is a cultural and urban geographer and is interested in the intersections of everyday life, migration and marginality in transit spaces and urban environments. Spatial perspectives from history, politics, literature and visual arts are also an important aspect of Will’s research and teaching, as he is committed to working outside of discrete academic boundaries.

Will is open to collaboration with stakeholders and is happy to be contacted by the press/media.

Will was awarded a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Sheffield. Funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, Will’s doctoral research was an interdisciplinary ethnography exploring the (in)visibility and (im)mobility of homeless migrants at Termini railway station in Rome, Italy.

Prior to the awarding of his PhD, Will was a Research Associate at the British Council, and a Research Assistant at the Amsterdam Centre of European Studies, working on critical perspectives on hospitality and the experiences of urban refugees in the Netherlands. Will has conducted and presented research on a wide range of urban and social issues in several countries, including Denmark, Italy, Latvia, the UK, the Netherlands, and Serbia.

Marginality in urban environments

Cities, historically and in contemporary times, are fascinating spaces of possibility but present numerous pressing challenges. Will’s research focuses on different aspects of the built environment and inequality, marginality, and exclusion, leading to his co-organisation of the Contemporary Rome Conference in Italy in 2023 and a 2022 residence and membership at the British School of Rome.

Geographies of migration

Will is interested in the overlap of experiences homelessness and migration and the way that border politics are enacted and embodied in urban public space. Previous research on migration includes a Research Assistantship at the University of Amsterdam focussing on refugee initiatives and hospitality and commissioned research for the British Council on intercultural encounters in Cape Town, Guangzhou and Rome.

Creative, interdisciplinary and ethical methodologies

Will has a core focus on ethically-led methodologies – including poetry and sketching - which can be utilised for social justice and inclusion in geographical research, and Will co-led the University of Sheffield’s Participatory Action Research group through the pandemic, and the Culture Space and Difference Research Group during 2024-25.

Urban water, sanitation, and city rivers

Will has an emergent project on Rome’s rivers, in collaboration with John Cabot University in Rome, where he held a visiting fellowship in 2023. His ‘watery’ research also relates to a longstanding critical concern for toilet access in cities (particularly for those experiencing homelessness) and the relationship between urban waste, sanitation facilities and urban development.

Will’s teaching is mutually informed by his research interests and overall agenda to address marginality across urban environments and to developing more equal, open and sustainable environments through scholarship and impact.

Will teaches across:

• Urban geographies, both historical and contemporary
• Geographies of migration, borders, and geopolitics
• Postcolonial geographies and 'race'
• Cultural geographies of gender and embodiment
• Identity, memory, landscape
• A wide spectrum of qualitative/quantitative methods and research skills

At UEA, Will teaches on the following modules:

• DEV4001B Geographies of an Unequal World
• DEV5024B Bristol Field Course
• ENV6034B Urban Futures