Durham University, founded in 1832, has a worldwide reputation in all areas of the arts, humanities, natural and social sciences. The University is currently ranked 4th in the UK Complete University Guide (2011), 6th in the Times Good University Guide and is in the Top 100 Universities in the world as ranked by Times Higher Education and QS (2010). The University has 15,000 students (of whom 4,500 are postgraduates and 3,000 international students from over 120 countries) and employs over 3,000 staff. The School of Education, recognised as a leading centre of research of world-class and international quality, has a strong post-graduate programme at masters and doctoral levels, with a large number of international students. Durham University is one of the top universities in the UK.
Dr. Prue Holmes
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education, Durham University. She leads the MA in Intercultural Education and Internationalisation, and researches and publishes in the area of intercultural (language) education, and intercultural communication/dialogue/competence. Prue has taught at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and English language and teacher education in Italy, China, and Hong Kong. In addition to co-developing the teaching and learning activities within IEREST, she leads the Researching Multilingually strand of the large AHRC-funded project “Researching multilingually at the borders of language, the body, law, and the state” (http://researching-multilingually-at-borders.com/ ). Prue is the chairperson of the International Association of Languages and Intercultural Communication(IALIC, http://ialic.net/?page_id=15).
Nicola Apperly
Research Grants Coordinator in the School of Education at Durham University. After graduating from Durham University in 1989, with a Degree in Chemistry, she remained at the University working for a scientific analysis service before moving to Universities for the North East in 1998. Here she provided project and financial administration for a range of collaborative projects funded from both UK and European sources. In 2012 she joined the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Newcastle University as a Proposal and Project Support Officer before moving back to Durham University in April 2013. Her role at Durham is to provide support to academics in the School of Education for all aspects of Research Grants including costing and submission of proposals, financial monitoring of grants awarded and the development and implementation of related administrative systems and procedures.
Sara Ganassin
Research Assistant at the IEREST project. Sara is a doctoral candidate at Durham School of Education, her work focuses on children in Chinese community schooling and their identity construction. Sara graduated in Chinese culture and language from Ca’ Foscari Venice University. She also holds a Masters in International Cooperation and Development from ISPI Institute in Milan. Since 2009 she is involved with the voluntary sector in the north of England as project staff and researcher working with migrant women and young people. She is currently project officer for Oxfam UK Programme.