Meet the team

Simon Philo
Senior Lecturer in American Studies

Simon is Programme Leader for BA Liberal Arts; and Subject Leader for American Studies and Popular Music in Society.

Researcher (Art and Visual Culture)

Maria is a Research Development Fellow based in the Research and Knowledge Exchange Office.

Robin Sims
Programme leader specialising in critical theory and postmodernism.

Programme Leader

John Steel
Research Professor in Journalism

John is Research Professor in Journalism and his role is to support research activities across the School and wider university. He has interests in a variety of research areas including journalism ethics and regulation, political communication, media history and journalism education.

Alen Toplisek
Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs and Politics

Alen is a Senior Lecturer in Global Affairs and Politics. 

Maria Urbina Montana presenting
Senior Lecturer in Journalism/Programme Leader MA Journalism

Maria Urbina Montana is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism. Her research interests focus on news media and Latin American politics, particularly social media, nationalism, and neoliberal change in Chile and the Southern cone. She has been working in the UK higher education for more than 8 years and worked as a journalist for Chilean and Latin American outlets covering politics and economics.

Paul Whickman in a classroom.
Senior Lecturer in English

Paul is a Senior Lecturer in English.

Academic Head, University of Derby Online Learning

Ian is an Academic Head at the University of Derby Online Learning.

Aled Williams
Lecturer in English

Dr Aled Williams is a Lecturer in English at the University of Derby. His research and scholarly interests are in Romantic-period literature, post-Romantic and Modern poetry, and student writing development.

Daniel wearing a flat cap standing outside amongst trees.
Postgraduate Research Student

Daniel is a postgraduate research student in the College of Arts, Humanities and Education. His research examines masculinity, morality and class through the lens of the Southern Gothic.