Inaugural Professorial Lecture by Professor Sarah Richards

A Relational Journey

Our Head of Suffolk Doctoral College, Professor Sarah Richards gives our next free Open Lecture on Tuesday 16 April at 6pm in our Waterfront Building. Sarah, who specialises in Childhood Studies and Social Policy will explore the connections between these two disciplines in the context of her academic career. She will look at how Childhood Studies are changing to better embrace the social, political and relational contexts in which children are situated and highlight the need for academics to embrace the opportunities that emerge through collaboration.

Sarah was appointed Head of Suffolk Doctoral College in 2021. Prior to this role she was an Associate Dean for Research in the School of Social Science and Humanities for three years. She is a Professor of Childhood Studies specialising in social policy as an academic specialism and has twenty years of teaching experience in higher education. At the University of Suffolk, she has taught across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses where her teaching primarily focuses on social policy and research methods. Sarah’s publications feature her work on international adoption policy and longstanding critical interest in methodological and ethical debates related to research with children. She is chair of the PGR ethics committee and a founding member of the biennial Children and Childhoods and Storytelling Conference programmes. Sarah has a PhD from University College London, an MA in Social Policy and a 1st class Honours degree in Childhood Studies and Social Policy.