Dr Laura Crawford PhD

Dr Laura Crawford

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Teaching Fellow in Human Geography

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Laura is a social, cultural and historical geographer who is interested in geographies of disability, home, care, volunteering and the voluntary sector.

She is currently researching volunteering through the ESRC rapid response Covid-19 funded project, ‘Mobilising Voluntary Action in the four UK jurisdictions: learning from today, prepared for tomorrow’. The project reviews, analyses and evaluates the state-and non-state supported volunteer responses to the crisis in collaboration with academics and practitioners from the four UK nations. The research is informing understandings of the role of the sector in our national recovery.

For her doctoral research Laura studied Le Court Cheshire Home utilising material from the Leonard Cheshire charity archive in Derbyshire. Le Court Cheshire Home was the first in a series of residential care homes designed for young disabled adults. The thesis explored resident representation in the homes, and considered the contribution of the residents to shaping narratives about disability in wider society.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Human Geography, Loughborough University, 2020
  • Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, University of Northampton, 2020.
  • Level 3 in Leadership and Management, Institute of Leadership and Management, 2016.
  • BA (Hons) History and International Relations, Loughborough University, 2013. 

Teaching

  • Contemporary Human Geography
  • Social Geographies
  • Research Methods and Statistics
  • Tutorials and Study Skills for Geographers
  • Dissertation Labs for Human Geography and Planning
  • Field Research Skills
  • Geography or Planning Research (Dissertation)
  • Work, Migration and Alternative Economies 

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Crawford, L 2022, 'Emancipatory archival method: Exploring the historical geographies of disability', Area, vol. 2022, no. 00, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12844

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Crawford, L & Mills, S 2020, Historical Research: Gender, politics and ethics. in A Datta, P Hopkins, L Johnston, E Olson & J Maria Silva (eds), Routledge Handbook of Gender and Feminist Geographies. Routledge.

Chapter

Acheson, N, Crawford, L, Grotz, J, Hardill, I, Hayward, D, Hogg, E, Dafydd Jones, R, Linning, M, Rees, S, Rutherford, AC, Speed, E, McGarvey, A, Goodall, C, Stuart, J & Maltman, D 2022, Mobilising the voluntary sector: critical reflections from across the four UK nations. in J Rees, R Macmillan, C Dayson, C Damm & C Bynner (eds), COVID-19 and the Voluntary and Community Sector in the UK: Responses, Impacts and Adaptation. Policy Press, pp. 17–29. https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447365532.ch002

View all publications in research portal