Space and Society Research Group

Welcome

Comprising nine Geography academic staff, and a further eight from Town and Regional Planning, plus a growing number of research assistants and research students, the group's research activities are clustered around advancing geographical and spatial analysis and understanding with respect to three inter-related themes:

Our internationally recognised work in these fields has several distinctive qualities. It is informed by a range of theoretical perspectives, including post-structuralist, feminist and political-economy approaches, and is methodologically eclectic, involving a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Much of the Group's research is also policy relevant and we have strong links a range of public and non-profit sector organisations, including the Home Office, Scottish Government and Volunteer Development Scotland.

Risk, Resilience and Social Justice: research in this cluster is concerned with the different spatialities of risk (including exclusion from the public sphere, ill health and crime), and how these impact on social well-being, and the implications of attempts to address such risk via public policy, voluntary and community sector responses Staff in this cluster include: Nick Fyfe, Ed Hall, Fiona Smith, Barbara Illsley, Tony Jackson, Lorraine van Blerk Deepak Gopinath , Dumiso Moyo.
New Mobilities: research in this cluster is focused on a range of new mobilities (eg international student flows to and from the UK) and mobility trends (eg the structuring of transnational flows involving people from eastern and central Europe). In addition research on population movement within the UK is looking particularly at the interplay between spatial and social mobility using longitudinal datasets. Staff in this cluster include: Alistair Geddes, Fiona Smith, Lorraine van Blerk, Jonathan Mendel, Susan Mains .
Spatial Governance: Research in this cluster is concerned with the role of spatial theory and practice in the formulation and realisation of policy outcomes, the changing nature of relationships within the state and civil society (e.g. in relation to homelessness, community involvement, crime and policing) and the emergence of new instruments of governance at local, national and international levels, (e.g. in relation to sustainability in conservation and to environmental assessment). Staff in this cluster include: include: Nick Fyfe, Barbara Illsley, Tony Jackson, Deepak Gopinath, Neil Grieve, David Kirk, Bill Lynch, Dumiso Moyo, Anne Thomas-Cumming, Lorraine van Blerk

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Postgraduate study

The group also has an active and growing postgraduate school. All staff contribute to the ESRC recognised MSc courses in Applied Population and Welfare Geography and Social Research Methods. Geography is ESRC approved for full and part-time '1+3', '+3' through the Scottish Doctoral Training Centre. Students with an interest in either Masters should contact Dr. Mark Cutler who is in charge of taught postgraduate courses in Geography. Students with an interest in studying for a PhD should contact either Geography's postgraduate tutor, Dr Martin Kirkbride (m.p.kirkbride@dundee.ac.uk) or the Head of the Space and Society Research Group, Dr. Lorraine van Blerk (l.c.vanblerk@dundee.ac.uk).

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Recent research grants and projects

Dates	Title
2009-11	Economic and Social Research Council funded study of 'East European migration to the UK' (Professor Allan Findlay with colleagues at the University of Southampton)
2008-09	Department of Innovations, Universities and Skills funded study of 'Motivations for UK international student mobility' (Professor Allan Findlay with Fiona Smith, Alistair Geddes, Russell King and Ronald Skeldon (University of Sussex)
May 2008	Getting off the escalator? A study of Scots out-migration from a global city region - A Case Study Allan FINDLAY, Donald HOUSTON, David McCOLLUM, Colin MASON and Richard HARRISON Project Website
2008	The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research Project: £2000 to conduct empirical research on 'Youth Gangs and Knife Carrying in Dundee' (Donna Brown)
2008	'Generating spaces of social inclusion for people with learning disabilities', Nuffield Foundation, £6474 (Ed Hall)
2008	'Making sense of gene-environment relations: a case-study of medical genetic research on type 2 diabetes', Carnegie Trust, £1878 (Ed Hall)
2006-2009	Street children's life paths and family relations in Cape Town, South Africa (Dr. Lorraine van Blerk)
2006-08	'Geography and Gender: Understanding the Rising Number of Women on Incapacity Benefit' (Donald Houston with Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill, Sheffield Hallam). £189,433 from ESRC
2005-07	Economic and Social Research Council funded study 'Placing voluntary activism in ne-liberal welfare states: a comparative study' (Professo Nick Fyfe and Professor Liz Bondi, Edinburgh University, Associate Professor Robin Kearns, Auckland University, Professor Wendy Larner, Bristol University, and Dr Christine Milligan, Lancaster Univeristy).
2005-06	Economic and Social Research Council funded study of research on migration between Scotland and Southeast England, as part of the ESRC's Scottish Demography Research Programme (Dr Donald Houston and Professor Allan Findlay with R. Harrison and C. Mason).
2005-06	'The Social Impacts of Flooding and Flood Risk in Scotland' (Donald Houston with Andrew Black and Alan Werritty). £68,849 from the Scottish Executive
2005-06	Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland funded study of 'Policing the environment' (Professo Nick Fyfe and Dr Allison Reeves).
2004	Dundee University funded study 'Biometrics, Identity and the Body' (Dr Jo Maddern and Dr Emma Stewart, Strathclyde University).
2004	Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland funded study 'Constructing Contemporary Celtic Identities: A New York Case Study' (Dr Jo Maddern).
2004	Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland funded study 'Displays of home and nation: exhibiting domestic spaces of the GDR in German museums' (Dr Fiona Smith).
2004-05	Economic and Social Research Council funded study of 'Transnationalism, citizenship and the shadow state: the role and impact of voluntary sector resettlement services for recent immigrants and refugees' (Dr Nick Fyfe and Professor Allan Findlay)
2004-07	Economic and Social Research Council funded 3 year research fellowship on 'Embodied geographies of inclusion: placing difference' (Dr Hester Parr)
2003-06	Economic and Social Research Council funded CASE studentship with Volunteer Development Scotland on 'The nature, meaning and impact of volunteering in Scotland (Dr Nick Fyfe and Dr Fiona Smith)
2003	Home Office funded study of an international differences in measures to facilitate witness co-operation in cases involving organised crime (Professor Nick Fyfe and Dr James Sheptycki, York University, Toronto)
2002-03	Economic and Social Research Council funded study of 'A new geography of health: transforming heart disease in the new genetics era' (Dr Ed Hall)
2002	Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers funded study of 'Social geographies of learning disability: socio-spaces of exclusion in Scotland' (Dr Ed Hall)
2001-	Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and Chief Scientific Office funded project on Scottish Longitudinal Study (Professor Findlay)
2001	Scottish Executive funded study of 'Equipment and adaptation services in Scotland' (Dr Ed Hall)
2000-02	Economic and Social Research Council funded study of 'Social Geographies of rural mental health: experiencing inclusion and exclusion' (Dr Hester Parr and Professor Chris Philo, Glasgow University).
2000-01	Economic and Social Research Council funded study of 'Voluntary organizations, social welfare and the city' (Professor Nick Fyfe and Dr Christine Milligan, Lancaster University).