People — Staff, students, and alumni
Meet some of our staff, students and alumni - find out how they got into their industry, what they discovered during their time at Anglia Ruskin University and what inspires them creatively.
Madelaine and Rebecca
— MA Dramatherapy Placement
Madelaine is a graduate of our MA Dramatherapy degree. During the course, she attended a placement under the mentorship of Rebecca at London Disability Network and now works as a registered Dramatherapist.
Josh Newman
– Film Production.
Josh Newman is Senior Lecturer in Film Production at ARU. A filmmaker with 25 years of industry experience in TV, film, visitor attractions and online marketing, he has a broad interest in using video storytelling for education, communication and social justice.
Students & AlumniGabi Kaziukonyte
— Film and Television Production.
Gabi graduated from our BA (Hons) Film and Television Production in 2020, and now works as Senior VFX Co-ordinator with Cambridge-based visual effects studio VineFX.
Meet Gabi
StaffCassie Gorman
— English Literature.
Dr Cassie Gorman is an Associate Professor in English Literature at ARU, and Course Leader for our BA English Literature degree. Her research interests revolve around the intersections of long 17th century literature with science, and she is author of the monograph 'The Atom in Seventeenth-Century Poetry'.
Meet Cassie
Students & AlumniSam Millar
— Writing and English Literature.
Sam Millar graduated from our BA (Hons) Writing and English Literature degree in 2019. His first poetry collection 'Retail Park' was published in 2022 by Querencia Press.
Meet Sam
Students & AlumniLauren Tabbinor
— Criminology.
Lauren graduated from our BA (Hons) Criminology in 2014, and has since worked mostly in the education sector, including a role with the Prince’s Trust. She is currently Student Ambassador Co-ordinator at ARU.
Meet Lauren
Students & AlumniFrancesca Gagni
— Fine Art.
Francesca Gagni is on the final year of our BA (Hons) Fine Art degree. An Italian national who emigrated to the UK in 1998, she is hoping to go on to teach fine art when she graduates.
Meet Francesca
Students & AlumniRachael Stalker
— Music Therapy.
Rachael Stalker graduated from our MA Music Therapy degree in 2022, and now works as a music therapist at a Special Needs School near Cambridge.
Meet Rachel
StaffLucy Bland
— History.
Dr Lucy Bland is Professor of Social and Cultural History at ARU, teaching on the BA History and leading on the MA. Her work on British babies born to black GIs in WW2 has won the Social History Society’s Book of the Year prize and a Museums Association award.
Meet Lucy
Students & AlumniLexi Curtis
— MA Graphic Design.
Lexi Curtis is a student on our MA Graphic Design degree, as well as the Course Representative and President of the Z.A.M.P. (zines and mini publications) Society.
Meet Lexi
Students & AlumniAgata Kazmierczak
— Film and TV Production.
Agata graduated from our BA (Hons) Film and Television Production degree in 2022. She currently works as a Technical Operator at BBC News in London, mostly mixing sound for live programmes and bulletins.
Meet Agata
Students & AlumniNatasha Doe
— Politics.
Natasha is a 2022 graduate of our BA (Hons) Politics degree course. She recently landed her ‘dream role’ working on Irish policy control with the UK Civil Service.
Meet Natasha
Students & AlumniKristin Roskifte
— Children's Author & Illustrator.
Kristin Roskifte graduated from our BA Illustration in 1998. After studying for her MA, she returned to Norway to write and illustrate her own picturebooks. Her latest, 'Everybody Counts', was awarded the Nordic Council Children and Young People's Literature Prize 2019.
Meet Kristin
Students & AlumniCaterina and Ana
— MA Music Therapy Placement.
Caterina is a student on our MA Music Therapy. As part of the course she attended a clinical placement under the supervision of Ana at Hollanden Park Hospital, further developing the skills she learned on the course with real-world practice and patients.
Meet Cat and Ana
Students & AlumniMardiya Aurangzeb
— Graphic Design.
Mardiya is a graduate of both our BA (Hons) Graphic Design and MA Graphic Design and Typography. She now works as a freelance Graphic Designer as well as teaching graphic design to FE students.
Meet Mardiya
Students & AlumniMichael Bruce
— Writing and Film.
Michael is a BA (Hons) Writing and Film student from Macon, Georgia, in the US, who enjoys making horror films in particular.
Meet Michael
Students & AlumniBlessing Raimi
— Graphic Design.
Blessing Raimi is a Digital Designer at award-winning media agency DTV Group, and a graduate of our BA (Hons) Graphic Design course.
Meet Blessing
Students & AlumniVictoria Burrows
— VFX Coordinator
Victoria is an alumni of our BA (Hons) Film and Television Production. After graduating, she worked as a runner for Technicolor, before becoming Production Coordinator and then Producer. She is now working as a VFX Coordinator for Scanline.
Meet Victoria
StaffMonique Brown
— Technical Officer, Fashion Design
Monique Brown began her career as a costume designer for feature films, working on the likes of Luc Besson's 'The Fifth Element' and George Lucas' 'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace'. She now works in our fashion studios, helping students and staff develop their creative process.
Meet Monique
StaffToby Venables
— Lecturer, Screenwriting.
Toby Venables teaches screenwriting modules at ARU. A professional screenwriter with a particular interest in horror, he has co-written a BAFTA-winning film, 'His House', for Netflix, and also published four novels.
Meet Toby
Students & AlumniAining Wen
— Children's Picturebook Author & Illustrator.
After graduating from our MA Children's Book Illustration, Aining returned to Beijing to work as a children's book editor with Daylight Publishing House. She has also published several picturebooks of her own, including 'Fairy Song', 'Secrets of Traditional Chinese Musical Instruments', 'Goodnight Baby', and the Bologna-shortlisted 'Cello Swan'.
Meet Aining
StaffRyan Murphy
— Musical Theatre
Ryan Murphy is a Senior Lecturer Practitioner and leads the BA Musical Theatre course. Teaching ensemble and solo singing as well as music theory, Ryan also musically directs every production on the course.
Meet Ryan
StaffNick Jeeves
— Graphic Designer
As well as teaching Graphic Design, Nick Jeeves produces books as editor for the Ruskin Arts Publications and The Public Domain Review. He also publishes small editions of original writing and revived historical texts through his own imprint Mulita Small Editions.
Meet Nick
Students & AlumniJamal J Glynn
— Music Therapist.
Jamal graduated in 2011 as the first MA music therapist to use the steelpan as primary instrument. After this, he returned home to Trinidad, and within three weeks was assigned to the Ministry of Health.
Meet Jamal
StaffChris Draper
— Illustrator.
Chris Draper is Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Illustration at Cambridge School of Art and a freelance illustrator who has worked on editorials for the likes of New Scientist, GQ, and The Independent newspaper; book covers for major publishing houses; and advertising for BT, NatWest, Weetabix, E-Cover, and Patek Phillipe.
Meet Chris
StaffJulia Johnson
— Photographer.
Julia Johnson is Co-Course Leader of the BA (Hons) Photography programme at ARU. She runs a major first-year practice based module, and also oversees the contextual study element for a number of Cambridge School of Art courses.
Meet Julia
Students & AlumniMegan Herdson
— Writing.
Megan is a graduate of our BA (Hons) Writing and Film Studies and MA Creative Writing, and worked as Senior Campaign Officer at ARU until 2022.
Meet Megan
Students & AlumniBo Yang
— Children's Book Illustrator.
Bo Yang is a freelance illustrator in Beijing, and a graduate of ARU's MA Children's Book Illustration course.
Meet Bo
StaffRachel Ryder
— Historical Sociologist.
Rachel Ryder is a historical sociologist, and Course Leader / Senior Lecturer for the BA (Hons) Sociology at ARU. The module she is best known for is 'Intoxicants and intoxication,' which takes in the broad field of alcohol studies, including production, consumption and distribution, globally and over time.
Meet Rachel
StaffDominic Chapman
— Computer Games Art & Technology
Independent game developer Dominic Chapman has been building immersive game worlds for the last 15 years and is the course leader for both Computer Games Art BA and Computer Games Technology BSc – the course he chose as a student.
Meet Dominic
StaffIdrees Rasouli
— Associate Professor, Art & Design.
An award-winning designer of products, processes, and places, with a focus on disruptive market innovation, Idrees Rasouli is Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Cambridge School of Art, where he leads on the portfolio of art and design programmes, and undertakes academic leadership in teaching and learning, research, external engagement and enterprise.
Meet Idrees
StaffJoe McCullagh
— Head of Cambridge School of Art.
Joe McCullagh leads on strategic and operational aspects of the school, to ensure it’s a fantastic environment for learning, research, creativity and development. He sees his role as being a pedagogic designer, developing environments that enable students and staff to meet their potential.
Meet Joe
Students & AlumniOlivia Welsh
— Fashion Designer.
Olivia is a graduate of our BA (Hons) Fashion Design at Cambridge School of Art, ARU, and founder of the fashion brand Olivia Annabelle.
Meet Olivia
Students & AlumniJemima Willcox
— Photographer / Videographer.
Jemima Willcox is cofounder of The Willcox Collective, a Cambridge-based visual content creation agency who consider themselves adventurers on a quest to deliver tech companies the best in visual content. She graduated from our BA (Hons) Photography in 2012.
Meet Jemima
StaffDavid Ryan
— Artist.
David is an artist involved with painting, video and also music. At ARU he is an Associate Professor in Fine Art 0.2, mainly dealing with PhD students as a supervisor.
Meet David
Students & AlumniJoanne Adeyinka
— English Language and Linguistics graduate
Joanne is a graduate of ARU's BA (Hons) English Language and Linguistics degree course. She's currently in the process of applying for work and looking to apply for a master’s degree in Phonetics or Speech and Language Sciences.
Meet Joanne
Students & AlumniCatherine Rowe
— Illustrator / Designer.
Catherine Rowe is a graduate of the BA (Hons) Illustration degree course at Cambridge School of Art, ARU, and founder of Catherine Rowe Designs.
Meet Catherine
StaffWilliam Tullett
— Historian
Teaching both the BA and MA History courses as well as supervising PhD students, Dr William Tullet focuses on the period from 16th century to early 20th, specialising in sensory history, with published works on smell, sound and emotions.
Meet William
StaffEmily Godden
— Digital Media Production
Emily Godden splits her time between lecturing in Digital Media Production and running award-winning social enterprise Virtually There Studio, creating exhibitions, experiences and educational opportunities to benefit both the environment and personal wellbeing.
Meet Emily
Students & AlumniRosie Axon
— Music Therapist.
After studying MA Music Therapy, Rosie Axon became Founder and Director at Chiltern Music Therapy, a not-for-profit organisation that provides music therapy to people of all ages across the UK.
Meet Rosie
StaffShelley Jackson
— Illustrator.
Shelley Ann Jackson is an author, illustrator and designer of children’s books, and at ARU she is Associate Professor and Course Leader for our MA Children’s Book Illustration. Even though she teaches illustration, she also gets to use her experience with writing and design on the course, because the three are inextricably linked in children’s books.
Meet Shelley
Students & AlumniCharlotte Quince
— English Language Teacher.
Charlotte is an English Language Teacher and a graduate of our BA (Hons) English Language and English Language Teaching. After graduating, she taught English in Taiwan at an American international school, and is currently studying towards a PGCE and QTS in Secondary English.
Meet Charlotte
Students & AlumniJade Slaughter
— Creative Content Manager.
Jade Slaughter studied both BA English Literature and MA Creative Writing at ARU, and is now Creative Content Manager for Scouts, the UK’s largest co-educational youth movement. Leading a team of content producers, they collaborate with studios and freelancers to produce digital, print, social and film content for the charity.
Meet Jade
StaffMark Pickering
— Audio and Music Technical Officer.
Mark works at ARU as a Technical Officer and part-time lecturer for Audio Music Technology. Outside of ARU he works as a video director, and audio professional in both creative and technical capacities.
Meet Mark
StaffJames Ward
— Head of Creative Industries.
James Ward is Head of School for Creative Industries at ARU. His main role is to strategically oversee the school in partnership with the Dean, and do anything that relates to management of the school in terms of education, learning and teaching, and attainment.
Meet James
StaffJohn Williams
— Printmaking Technical Officer
John looks after the printmaking room and equipment at Cambridge School of Art, providing technical and practical support to students, staff, AA2A artists and other visiting artists.
Meet John
StaffApurba Kundu
— Deputy Dean for Education
Looking after quality assurance, quality enhancement and the student experience, Dr Apurba Kundu is Deputy Dean for Education in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
Meet Apurba