Category: Academic Reflections
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From Research to Policy: Giving Voice to Work Coaches in Northern Ireland
One of the most rewarding aspects of research is finding ways to make academic evidence more accessible beyond the university. I am particularly interested in translating original, empirical research into policy briefs and other open access outputs that can inform practice, support decision-making, and reach a wider audience. A recent example is our newly published…
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Why Graduation Day Matters
Over the last week, my social media feed has been filled with graduation photographs. There have been countless images of smiling graduates in gowns and mortarboards, proudly holding their degree certificates, laughing with friends, posing alongside family members, and sharing heartfelt messages of gratitude and accomplishment. My academic colleagues have been posting too, celebrating the…
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Enjoying Your Beach While Cleaning It Too: Reflections on Enviro‑Leisure Activism
To cite the original article: Power, S. (2022). Enjoying your beach and cleaning it too: a Grounded Theory Ethnography of enviro‑leisure activism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(6), 1438–1457. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1953037 Last night was something special. We were invited by the Gillian McCollum, Mayor of Ards and North Down Borough Council, to Bangor City Hall to celebrate…
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Place as Agency: How Location, Locale and Sense of Place Shape Pathways Back to Work
Background Last week, I presented research about emplaced agency at the Regional Studies Association British/Irish Section Conference at Queen’s University Belfast. Looking at ‘place’ as a holder of agency was a new exploration on my behalf, despite having come across place attachment and place sensitivity before in my research. My exploration of ‘place as agency’…
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A Private Pool in the Desert: Confronting Sustainability Paradoxes in Tourism
Original article: A longitudinal analysis of judgement approaches to sustainability paradoxes by Dr Susann Power, Prof MariaLaura Di Domenico and Prof Graham Miller. Cite: Power, S., Di Domenico, M., & Miller, G. (2024). A longitudinal analysis of judgement approaches to sustainability paradoxes. Tourism Management, 102, 104877. Research in Plain Language: In 2010, I found myself in a…
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Sustainability Paradoxes: A Research‑Teaching Nexus in Action
To cite the original article: Power, S., Di Domenico, M., & Miller, G. (2024). A longitudinal analysis of judgement approaches to sustainability paradoxes. Tourism Management, 102, 104877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2023.104877 How do we prepare future tourism and hospitality professionals to navigate a world defined by complexity, contradiction, and competing sustainability demands? As I was contemplating this question, I set…
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Women in Academia: Getting Unstuck and Rethinking Resilience
Let me begin with a caveat: I do not feel disadvantaged as a woman in academia. I am acutely aware of my privilege, and my academic career has been shaped, sometimes gently, other times firmly, by the circumstances of my life. To me, being an academic has never been simply a job. It is a…
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Becoming a Human Book: Reflections From Rathlin Island’s Human Library
Sometimes, as academics, our work takes us into unexpected spaces, both intellectually and geographically. One such moment arrived when I agreed to become a Human Book at a Human Library event on Rathlin Island. The gathering was hosted by the Rathlin Development and Community Association and the Ulster University Rathlin-Research Forum as part of the Northern Ireland…
