- Graham, K. (2014). Does school prepare men for prison? City, 18(6), pp. 824–836. doi:10.1080/13604813.2014.962893.
Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
About
Overview
Karen's work has been at the nexus of professional practice, academic research and community education. At the beginning of her teaching career, she spent three years working with adult male prisoners in two Midlands’ prisons. Observations made during this professional practice formed the background for her doctoral research completed at University of Birmingham.
Her research interests focus on critiquing the disciplinary functions of institutions such as schools, prisons and universities; and the significance of class, race and gender in these disciplinary processes. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has taught across the disciplines of Education, Sociology and Criminology at several universities. She was Academic Staff Council Member at Newman University 2017 – 2018 and in 2022 was appointed Member Co-Chair of a newly formed Axon UK Equity & Ethics Advisory Council.
At Newman University, she founded and led ‘Going Straight 2 University’ a project that brought university and prison based students together to earn credits towards a degree in HMP Birmingham. The long-term aim being to create a direct route to university for prisoners on their release. She was awarded the ‘Innovation in Teaching Award’ for this work at the Newman Excellence Awards in 2018.
Karen provides research and education consultancy to education and criminal justice providers. She has evaluated prison based programmes and designed and delivered bespoke education packages to practitioners wishing to challenge structural racism in their organisation.
Qualifications
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Higher Education Academy, 2017
- EdD, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2015
- BSc Social Sciences, London South Bank University, United Kingdom, 1994
Postgraduate training
- Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Practice, Newman University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2015 – 2017
Employment
- Lecturer in Criminology, City, University of London, Feb 2023 – present
- Visiting Lecturer in Criminology, City, University of London, Sep 2022 – Jan 2023
- Visiting Lecturer in Criminology, University of Law, Jan 2022 – Jan 2023
- Head of Programmes, Spark inside, Jan – Dec 2021
- Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University, Apr 2019 – Dec 2020
- External Examiner, University of Northampton, Oct 2018 – Jun 2023
- Lecturer in Sociology, University of Worcester, Oct 2018 – Mar 2019
- Lecturer in Working with Children, Young People and Families and Criminology, Newman University, Jun 2015 – Oct 2018
- Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, University of Birmingham, Jan – May 2015
- Sessional Lecturer, University of Worcester, Feb – Jun 2014
- Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, University of Birmingham, Nov 2012 – Feb 2013
Publications
Publications by category
Chapter
- In Andrews, K. and Palmer, L.A. (Eds.), Blackness in Britain. In Routledge.
Journal article
Professional activities
Events/conferences (25)
- NEU and APPG Race Equality in Education Roundtable: Responding to the Adultification of Black Girls in Secondary Education. Portcullis House, Westminster (2022). Invited speaker.
- The Lammy Review: Three Years On. (Seminar) Online, hosted by Prisoners' Education Trust (2020). Invited speaker.
- Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline. (Public lecture) Waterstones Manchester (2020). Panel Member. Invited speaker.
- Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) Seminar Series. (Seminar) University of Manchester (2020). Invited speaker.
Paper: Race, Class and Gender and The School-to-Prison Pipeline: Does School Prepare Men for Prison? - National Education Union Black Educators’ Annual Conference. (Conference) Mercure Manchester (2019). Invited speaker.
- Radical Pedagogies: Macpherson 20 Years On. (Conference) De Montfort University, Leicester (2019).
Paper: Using the Space Traders to Uncover Racism
Author: Karen Graham - British Educational Research Association Annual Conference. University of Manchester (2019).
Paper: Producing prisoners through education: theorising the school-to-prison pipeline - Race, Knowledge & Science, Consented Youth and Hacking Education Summer School. (Workshop) B6 Sixth Form College, London (2019). Invited speaker.
Paper: The school-to-prison pipeline - Challenging Narratives in Prison Education. (Workshop) University of Westminster (2019). Invited speaker.
- Multisensory and Affective Dimensions of Researching and Teaching in Prison Settings. (Workshop) (2019). Invited speaker.
- Lives Transformed: The Power of Prison Education. Fishmongers’ Hall, London (2019). Invited speaker.
- A History of Race & Resistance in Britain, Consented Youth Summer School. (Conference) SOAS, University of London (2018). Invited speaker.
- Advance HE Annual Teaching & Learning Conference. (Conference) Aston University, Birmingham (2018).
Paper: Taking the university into the prison: Revelations on the politics and practice of UK Higher Education - International Conference on Penal Abolition. (Conference) Birkbeck, University of London (2018).
Paper: The power of the classroom: Reconstructing the criminal justice system via education
Co-authors: Devon Simmons and Karen Graham - Black Feminisms: Women, Belonging and the Nation. (Conference) Birmingham City University (2017).
Co-authors: Paulette Sawyers and Karen Graham - Does Prison Work? Behind Bars Post Performance Panel. Open Door, Birmingham Repertory Theatre (2016). Invited speaker.
- Warwick Sociology Seminar Series. (Seminar) University of Warwick (2016). Invited speaker.
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? - European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. (Conference) (2016).
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? - Sociology Talks Series. (Seminar) John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York (2016). Invited speaker.
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? - International Centre for Public Pedagogy (ICPP) Seminar Series. (Seminar) CASS School of Education, University of East London (2016). Invited speaker.
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? - Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) Seminar Series. (Seminar) University of Cambridge (2015).
- Blackness in Britain. (Conference) Birmingham City University (2015).
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? - Prison Life: Inside and Out. (Public lecture) University of Birmingham (2014). Invited speaker.
- Geographies of Neoliberalism and Resistance after the Crisis: The State, Violence and Labour. (Conference) University of Oxford (2014).
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? - Blackness in Britain: An Interdisciplinary Black Studies Conference. (Conference) Newman University (2013).
Paper: Does school prepare men for prison? Narrative data.
Online article
- Does school prepare men for prison? (2015). Centre for Crime and Justice Studies