Biography

I have a PhD from Queen’s University Belfast, where I also contributed to teaching on language, power and ideology. My doctoral research focused on how ideals about femininity and the female body are constructed in French and English cosmetics advertisements.

I joined the University of Portsmouth in September 2014 and I teach on a wide range of linguistics units at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. I am currently researching the language used to describe motherhood and femininity in religious online communities. I am a member of the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA).  

Research interests

My current research looks at the connections between language, gender, and religion in online contexts. My most recent project looks at metaphors of the female body in motherhood and modest fashion blogs.