What’s your job title and how long have you been at Loughborough?

I’m a Senior Lecturer in American Literature and Film in the English Department, in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities. As to how long I’ve been at Loughborough, the answer is a frighteningly long time. I arrived in 1996, teaching for a semester while a member of staff was on study leave, and never left. For the first ten years, I had a series of fixed-term teaching contracts, trying to make myself useful by teaching everything across the English curriculum (from Early Modern drama and Paradise Lost to Bollywood cinema and Madonna videos). A permanent lectureship came up in 2006 and I was very pleased to be appointed.

Tell us what a typical day in your job looks like?

At the moment my working day is less varied than usual as I’m on study leave, researching and writing towards my current book project, which is a study of contemporary Hollywood stardom and globalisation. In term time, much of my day is taken up with teaching undergraduate and postgraduate modules in English – some, though not all, relating to my specialism in American literature and film. Working alongside colleagues from other parts of my School, I also enjoy teaching two modules outside the English Department: one in screen culture, the other in post-Civil War American cultural history. In addition to doing my teaching, research and admin, I am a personal caseworker for the Loughborough branch of UCU. So my typical day is likely to include interacting with one of our campus members who is looking for union support.

What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on?

Inevitably, over such a long time at Loughborough, I’ve been involved in many enjoyable projects, including supervising some excellent PhD students and helping to develop new degree programmes. Picking out just one, though, I’ve taken a lot of pleasure from devising and delivering an undergraduate module in African American culture. The module’s quite a fixture in our catalogue now, but I update it regularly (for example, by including the film Sinners or Black Lives Matter writing and imagery in the syllabus). The seminar on hip-hop is always great fun: I’ve done plenty of homework, in both listening to and reading about the music, but I always look forward to learning from the students with their greater knowledge of younger hip-hop artists. That kind of reciprocal pedagogical exchange, in which I’m educated by the group as well as offering them what I can, seems to me ideal.

What is your proudest moment at Loughborough?

Receiving a Vice-Chancellor’s Award in 2025, not for work in my academic role but for what I’ve done as a Loughborough UCU caseworker. In this capacity, including five years as our branch’s Personal Casework Coordinator, I’ve supported more than 60 colleagues, from right across the institution, who have been facing challenging situations at work (disciplinary investigations and hearings, grievances, sickness absence, redundancy, etc.). It was a nice moment for me, personally, to get this award. More importantly, though, it was an acknowledgement of the efforts of our casework team as a whole, and very encouragingly it also showed the University’s recognition of the positive role played by the campus unions.

Which University value do you most resonate with and why?

Collaborative. This isn’t to disparage the other values. However, without a developed culture of teamwork and mutual support – in my role, sharing the load of teaching and admin with colleagues – it would be impossible for all of us also to have the opportunity to be ‘adventurous’ or ‘creative’.

Tell us something you do outside of work that we might not know about?

I’m a season ticket holder at Derby County Football Club and enjoy the fortnightly escapes from academia offered by home matches. Unless you support a Manchester City or a Bayern Munich, being a fan of a football team can seem like a lesson in disappointment. But there’s always the promise of next season…

What is your favourite quote?

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them” (Henry David Thoreau, Walden; or, Life in the Woods [1854]).

If you would like to feature in ‘Five Minutes With’, or you work with someone who you think would be great to include, please email Martha Causier at m.causier@lboro.ac.uk.