James Ravenhill

I am an education-focused Psychology Lecturer, and a qualified teacher in post-16 education (PGCE: Institute of Education, University of London). I started my career as a teacher and examiner of Psychology at GCSE, A-Level, and International Baccalaureate, before undertaking a PhD and moving to university lecturing. A critical psychologist with experience in teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate modules in gender and sexuality, forensic psychology, addiction, and qualitative methods, I am particularly interested in how critical perspectives can be employed for pedagogical purposes, to enrich student engagement by encouraging reflexivity on taken-for-granted knowledge. A key concept that enables this reflexivity is “epistemic injustice”, or put simply, inequalities in who has the power to produce knowledge, and how and why certain “knowledges” are privileged while others are marginalised and silenced. Utilising in-class activities and assessments that encourage reflexivity, I aim to facilitate more critical approaches to studying Psychology, including considering the role of Psychology as a discipline in reproducing inequalities, and also in challenging them.

I have supervised two PhD students to completion, and am currently supervisor to two doctoral candidates who are studying on ESRC and Techne scholarships. My own research focus is in sexualities, encompassing young men’s masculinities, gay masculinities, sexual self-labelling by gay men, bisexuality, sexual health and wellbeing, and intimate relationality in secure mental healthcare, and would be interested in supervising student projects (undergraduate, Masters, Doctorate) in these areas.