Find out more about us and how to get in touch

About us

This website has been developed from the book ‘Inspirational Women’ which examines the life histories of a range of women from varied socio-cultural and political backgrounds who have challenged the existing structures of society to make a difference to the lives of women in their communities.

The book was a result of a DeLPHE link between Liverpool John Moores University, Central Department Home Science and Women’s Studies and Dhaka University in Bangladesh between 2006 and 2011 entitled Higher Education and Research in the Contexts of Gender and Development Issues in Nepal. Both of the authors of this resource, Parker and Standing, were involved in this partnership. The link ended in 2010 and had a number of positive impacts. One of which was the development of the interviews into this teaching resource which was created in collaboration with Social Science and Public Health staff and MRes students with funding and support from the LJMU Curriculum Enhancement Project scheme.

Dr Sara Parker

Sara is a Reader in Development Studies and passionate about participatory action research with strong research links in Nepal. She has been teaching in the School of Social Science since 1994. She completed her PhD on Actionaid's RELECT programme in the remote mountainous village of Sikles in the Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. Leading on from this she facilitated a community photography project which led to the publication of a coffee table book entitled 'Our Village Our Life Sikles in Focus' featuring photographs taken by local people.

Sara has also researched and published in the areas of gender and education, ageing in Nepal and more recently on the rise of fair trade in the 'Global South'. She has presented papers at the Fair Trade International Symposium in Mila (May 2015) and the 4th International Visual Methods Conference in September 2015.

In addition to this Sara has recently founded a Community Interest Company, Fair Connections (Global) CIC, to develop materials and resources for the primary school curriculum on the topic of fair trade and Nepal. She has co-written a storybook aimed at primary school children in Key Stage one and two, entitled 'Adventures of Fairis a Nepali Frog'. Educational material and resources have been developed by Sara to support this story including a handmade fair trade based 'Global International Fair Trade Story Sack'. This is having a direct impact on the lives of people in Nepal by expanding the market for products made by WFTO members in Nepal. Fair Connections is providing internship opportunities for students at LJMU to develop their employability skills and gain invaluable experiences related to both ethical business and education. www.fairconnections.org | www.fairconnectionsfoundation.org

Dr Kay Standing

Dr Kay Standing has worked at LJMU since 1997. Her research interests are in gender and education in the UK and Nepal. She is currently working on the project ‘Representing Menstrual Health in Nepal: Stability and Sustainability’. She was project manager for the Tender Acting to End Abuse project which used art and drama to explore issues of equality, respect and the healthy and unhealthy behaviours’ present within relationships, including violence and abuse, and provided INSET training on recognising early warning signs of abuse. Kay has also been involved in research on gender and education in Nepal since 2003 with Dr Sara Parker. She has also project managed two ESF funded research projects on women and work life balance in the UK and the Netherlands.

Kay is Programme Leader for the MRes in Critical Social Science and module leader for 6014SOCIO: Body Politics, Gender, Sexuality and the Body and 5001SOCIO: Social Research Methods. She also teaches across the Sociology programme on International Field Work, Dissertations, Myth, Magic, Religion, Studying Society and World Development.

Contact us

To find out more about the Qualitative Analysis in Action project please contact Dr Sara Parker. You can send a message via the form below or get in touch by email or telephone.

Email: S.L.Parker@ljmu.ac.uk
Telephone: 0151 231 5924