Chris is one of the founding ISCHP members. She is currently Treasurer and has also been Chair. Currently, she is a Professor in the School of Psychology at Massey University in New Zealand-considered the cradle of critical health psychology. She co-leads the Health and Ageing Research Team, who has been conducting a longitudinal study of
Career Files
Career file: Brett Scholz
Brett taking a moment to sit and watch the railway on a recent getaway to Darjeeling.
Brett Scholz is a research fellow in the Medical School at The Australian National University. His work is concerned with consumer leadership in health services and systems, and the allyship that non-consumers can engage in to create opportunities for consumer leadership. He is one of the co-editors of ISCHP’s podcast The Operative Word. He can never say no to a cup of tea.
Career file: Ally Gibson
Ally Gibson, is a long-time ISCHP member and co-host of the ISCHP pod-cast. Originally hailing from South Africa, Ally has just taken up a lectureship in the recently established School of Health at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand). Prior to this, she held a postdoctoral fellowship in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at UNSW Sydney (Australia), where she also coordinated the Qualitative Research Network Hub. We asked Ally about her career path, experiences, and thoughts about working as an academic.
Continue readingCareer File: Tracy Morison
Dr Tracy Morison moved to Aotearoa (New Zealand) two and a half years ago to join the critical health psychology team at Massey University. She now teaches health promotion and critical social psychology and is also a research associate of the Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction research programme at Rhodes University, South Africa. Find out more about Tracy’s academic journey in this Career File.
How did you embark on a career in academia? What was it that prompted this decision? I didn’t decide to become an academic; I think academia slowly drew me in! In retrospect, I think I was always destined for the academy. I loved learning as a child and was, according to my peers, a ‘boffin’ (as they called Academic achievers then). When I was in grade 4, I I wrote a composition saying I wanted to be ‘an author’ when I grew up. Then, some years later, I explained that I wanted to be a researcher on my honours application. I think academe has allowed me to combine both of these. My love of language led me to qualitative research and in my postgrad years, I also discovered the rewards of teaching and mentoring. So here I am! Continue reading
Career File: Magda Marczak
Dr Magda Marczak is a lecturer in clinical psychology at Coventry University in the UK. She teaches into the Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, School of Psychological, Social and Behavioural Sciences. She is also one of the new co-editors of the ISCHP blog. Find out more about Magda’s academic journey in this Career File.
How did you embark on a career in academia? What was it that prompted this decision? It was a very conscious decision. When I moved to the UK in 2004, I realised that my academic qualifications were not recognised. As such I could not officially practice as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK and needed to figure out what route to take. After a couple of years, I decided academia was the way forward. Working as an Assistant Psychologist afforded me enough ‘brain space’ to complete a PhD, although I must admit there were times I didn’t believe I would ever complete it and was ecstatic when it was done! Continue reading
Career File: Andrea LaMarre
Andrea LaMarre recently defended her PhD, which explored experiences of eating disorder recovery from the perspective of people in recovery and their supporters. She is now working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo, and continuing to build community in the arts and social justice spheres.
What is your current position?
I recently defended my PhD at the University of Guelph in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition. I am now starting an exciting postdoctoral fellowship at the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo. I am also continuing to work as a collaborator on a large grant under the directorship of Dr. Carla Rice, Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life, including some research exploring “relaxed performance” approaches to theatre with the British Council of Canada. I am also a facilitator for the organization Art with Impact, where I will be running workshops that aim to break down mental health stigma using film. Continue reading
Career File: Rado Masaryk
Dr Rado Masaryk is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava. He is also hosting the next 2019 ISCHP conference in Bratislava and our new conference chair. We are delighted to feature his career file.
Could you say a bit about your career trajectory so far?
One year after finishing my Masters in psychology I found out about a PhD position opening at the Faculty of Education which is a school that trains future teachers. I was sceptical at first. I had never thought of myself as an academic type. But I applied anyway, and got accepted, and found myself in a rather bizarre institution. The school was heavily underfunded, most of the students had no intention of ever going into teaching, there was no tradition of doing real research, many of my colleagues were severely burned out and they found no joy in their teaching or research. I nevertheless hung around until I got my doctorate. And then surprisingly I hung around for several additional years, because I felt that working with future teachers was the most important job in the world. However, I got to feeling a bit stagnant as far as my academic career went. So after 9 years it was time to move on. The Head of the Institute of Experimental Psychology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences offered me a job and a chance to manage a group of inspiring young researchers. I started to publish internationally (it was about time!). Now I work at the Comenius University’s Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences which is a small institution and at the same time a very dedicated group of researchers. We are the youngest and the most radical part of the Comenius University, and I enjoy working for this progressive faculty. Continue reading
Career File: Gareth Treharne
This is the first in our new series of Career Files: informal interviews with leading or under recognised critical health psychologists and early career researchers. This month’s Career File is with our very own society chair, Dr Gareth Treharne.
Tell me who you are and what you do?
I work as a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago in Dunedin. Otago is a region of in Aotearoa/New Zealand and the University is the oldest in the country, having been founded in 1869. I moved here exactly 10 years ago fresh out of a BSc, PhD and research fellowship in psychology at the University of Birmingham, UK. My family hails from Wales and I grew up in England very aware that my generation had lost the language that my parents spoke as their first language. The issue of language loss has become even more meaningful to me since living in Aotearoa/New Zealand where Te Reo Māori became recognised as an official language in 1987. I’m now a citizen of Aotearoa/New Zealand as well as maintaining my British citizenship (and accent). Paying attention to official languages is just one of the things needed if we are to work in ways that decolonise rather than recolonise in health psychology and every aspect of academia. Continue reading
Career File: Wendy Stainton-Rogers
This is the third in our new series ProfFile: informal interviews with leading or under recognized critical health psychologists. This month’s ProfFile is with Professor Wendy Stainton-Rogers, who is based in Yorkshire, UK. A key organizer of ISCHP, Wendy has blazed a trail for many of us working in critical health, social and feminist psychology.
What is your current position?
I’m now retired but still a ‘Professor Emerita’ at the Open University in the UK. However, it’s rather more complicated than that. Continue reading
Career File: Catriona Macleod
This is the second in our new series ProfFile: informal interviews with leading or under recognized critical health psychologists. For out first ProfFile see here. This month’s ProfFile is with Professor Catriona Macleoad at Rhodes University in South Africa. The lead organizer of the 2015 ISCHP conference , Catriona is a trailblazing academic who has helped bring feminist theory into critical health psychology. Her book ‘Adolescence’, pregnancy and abortion: constructing a threat of degeneration (published by Routledge) was awarded the Distinguished Publication Award by the Association for Women in Psychology, based in America.
What is your current position?
I am currently the SARChI Chair of Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction, Professor of Psychology at Rhodes University in South Africa, and editor-in-chief of the journal Feminism & Psychology.
Could you say a bit about your career trajectory so far?
I started off as a high school Mathematics teacher. While it was never my desire to be a Mathematics teacher for ever, it proved very useful in allowing me to work and save money in order to return to university and complete my post-graduate degrees. After my Master’s degree, I worked for an organisation called the Wits Rural Facility, which combined research and community –based interventions. I went on to work at the University of Zululand in the Educational Psychology Department, and completed my PhD at the same time. I then moved to East London in South Africa where I worked in the Psychology Department of Rhodes University and the University of Fort Hare. Ten years ago, I moved to Grahamstown where I headed up the Psychology Department. I was appointed to the SARChI Chair at the beginning of 2014, and now devote all my time to research.
Career File: Elizabeth Peel
This is the first in our new series ProfFile: informal interviews with leading or under recognized critical health psychologists.
ProfFile 1: Elizabeth Peel - who is (amongst other things) a Lesbian, Left-Handed, Left-Wing Critical Health Psychology Professor
What is your current position?
I’m Professor of Psychology and Social Change, and Director of Research for the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Worcester, UK. I also Chair the BPS (British Psychological Society) Psychology of Sexualities Section.
Could you say a bit about your career trajectory so far?
Trajectory suggests an upward path. Circular routes, peaks and troughs, and variety across different roles are just as important. For instance, I spent a lot of time working to support the (then) BPS Lesbian and Gay Psychology Section in the early 2000s and I’m trying to so the same again now. Continue reading