{"id":9,"date":"2018-10-05T15:29:33","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T14:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2026-03-17T21:19:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:19:47","slug":"background","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/","title":{"rendered":"Background"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap has-text-align-left\">I am a cultural geographer of modern and contemporary France whose research examines the aesthetics and politics of urban transformation. I have a particular focus on cultures of infrastructure and ecology in Grand Paris, examining how these assemblages are shaping the politics and imaginaries of more just urban futures.  This work is extended through practice and engagement with community gardens in the suburbs of the North East of England. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Originally from Ireland, and the first in my family to attend university, I studied at Trinity College, Dublin (BA French &amp; History), the Sorbonne and New York University before completing my PhD on urban travel writing at Trinity. These experiences of moving between languages, places and disciplines continue to inform my approach to teaching and research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before joining Newcastle in 2018, I taught at Bangor University. I was promoted to Reader in 2023 and served as Director of Impact and Engagement for the School of Modern Languages (2019\u20132025), as well as Theme Lead for \u201cDefining and Experiencing Cities\u201d at the Centre for Researching Cities (2020-2025). I am currently a co-Director of the Centre for Researching Cities. In these roles, I seek to foster interdisciplinary and community-based conversations around urban belonging, spatial justice and ecological care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap has-text-align-left\">My current projects reflect this commitment. I am preparing a monograph which examines the visual ecologies of Grand Paris. Additionally, along with the volunteer co-authors at The Comfrey Project in Gateshead and together with artists, designers and community coordinators, I produced <em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/the-comfrey-almanac\/\" data-type=\"page\" data-id=\"615\">The Comfrey Almanac<\/a><\/em>\u2014an illustrated book which explores their urban community garden as a site for reestablishing rootedness through practices of social and ecological care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Affiliations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul id=\"block-69f15781-e867-41c5-a64b-7198d5a320b3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Co-Director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncl.ac.uk\/cities\/\">Newcastle University Centre for Researching Cities <\/a>(2025\u2013 <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/research.ncl.ac.uk\/anthropocene\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/research.ncl.ac.uk\/anthropocene\/\">Anthropocene Research Group<\/a> (Newcastle University)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Member of <a href=\"https:\/\/thecomfreyproject.org.uk\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/thecomfreyproject.org.uk\">The Comfrey Project<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Co-Editor <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ingentaconnect.com\/content\/irjofs\/ijfs\">Irish Journal of French Studie<\/a>s<\/em> (2011\u20132019)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>External member and co-founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ictstudies.eu\">Irish Centre for Transnational Studies<\/a> (2010\u2013 )<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Member of the Executive Committee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.adeffi.ie\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.adeffi.ie\">Association des \u00e9tudes fran\u00e7aises et francophones d\u2019Irlande <\/a>(ADEFFI) (2011-2014)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Education<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>PhD in French Studies, Trinity College, Dublin. Supervised by Prof David Scott and fully funded by the TCD Ussher Fellowship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dipl\u00f4me d\u2019\u00e9tudes approfondies (DEA), Universit\u00e9 Sorbonne Nouvelle\u2014Paris III. Supervised by Philippe Hamon. Pensionnaire at the \u00c9cole Normale Sup\u00e9rieure, rue d\u2019Ulm, Paris.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>B.A. Two Subject Moderatership in French &amp; History, Trinity College, Dublin. Funded by the Drogheda Credit Union Scholarship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2017 F.H.E.A., Bangor University, Wales (Fellow of the Higher Education Academy \/ Advance HE).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2010 F.L.E. (Stage de perfectionnement en Fran\u00e7ais Langue \u00c9trang\u00e8re \/ Teaching French as a Foreign Language), Universit\u00e9 de Laval, Qu\u00e9bec.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2005 T.E.F.L. (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), The Language Centre of Ireland, Dublin.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am a cultural geographer of modern and contemporary France whose research examines the aesthetics and politics of urban transformation. I have a particular focus on cultures of infrastructure and ecology in Grand Paris, examining how these assemblages are shaping the politics and imaginaries of more just urban futures. This work is extended through practice &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Background<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7758,"featured_media":240,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":735,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9\/revisions\/735"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/gillianjein\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}