Catherine Wilkinson

1.     Current Research

I am an interdisciplinary academic (geography, health, and education) making conceptual and methodological contributions via my research ‘with’ children and young people.

I have two active research projects. The first ‘Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), School and Me’ explores the emotional, embodied and affective experiences of everyday school life for children with IBD. This ongoing project will explore: how children with IBD use and experience spaces at school; how children with IBD manage their bodies and identities in the school setting; and in what ways creative, cathartic and care-full methods are useful in exploring everyday school life for children with IBD. These research aims will be achieved using flexible, remote, and asynchronous research methods.

The second project ‘Twin (Im)Mobilities: On the Move with Multiples and Multiples on the Move’ aims to explore via creative qualitative methods (go-along interviews and photo-elicitation interviews) with parents / carers of multiples (twins, triplets, quads and more), their everyday mobilities and temporalities as they travel to, and through, public spaces. It is specifically concerned with: How parents / carers of multiples access and use public spaces; what, if any, challenges parents of multiples face in accessing and using public spaces; and how best public spaces can be improved to make them more accessible to parents of multiples.

2.     Other / Previous Research 

My previous research has been oriented around three key themes: ‘Other’ childhoods; youth and community; and children and young people-friendly research methods.

My previous research explores intersectionality and difference in children and young people. My co-edited collection published by Routledge, Intersectionality and Difference in Childhood and Youth: Global Perspectives, involved working with scholars from Malta, Poland and Germany, and included findings from fieldwork in Ghana, Bolivia, Bangladesh and Tanzania to explore global perspectives of ‘other’ childhoods.

My significant contributions to the literature on youth and community centre on community radio. In this work I have contributed to the reconceptualisation of youth voice, and the delineation of communities within community radio.

I have published widely on my methodological work, most significantly on participatory research; the methodological production of audio artefacts; analysis of secondary data; and ethical considerations. My co-edited handbook Creative Methods for Human Geographers is a key research methods teaching and learning resource.

Links to Published Works:

Selected publications:

Edited books

von Benzon, N., Holton, M., Wilkinson, C. & Wilkinson, S. (eds.) (2021). Creative Methods for Human Geographers. London: Sage.

von Benzon, N. & Wilkinson, C. (eds.) (2019). Intersectionality and Difference in Childhood and Youth: Global Perspectives. Oxon: Routledge.

Peer reviewed journal articles

Bray, L., Wilkinson, C., Bruce, C., Davidson, N., Satchwell, C. and Carter, B. (2022). “It’s my back...”; developing the Coming to Spinal Clinic resource to improve the health literacy of young people with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and their parents. Journal of Child Health Care.

Wilkinson, C. and Wilkinson, S. (2022). Using Persona Dolls in research with children to combat the insider / outsider researcher status dilemma. Children’s Geographies. pp. 375-380.

Wilkinson, C., Carter, B., Satchwell, C. and Bray, B. (2022). Using methods across generations: Reflections on research involving young people and their parents. Children’s Geographies. 20. (5). pp. 648-660.

Wilkinson, C., Bray, L., Carter, B., & Keating, P. (2021). Not a nurse but more than a mother: the everyday geographies of mothering children with complex health care needs. Children's Geographies. 19. (2), pp. 158-171.

Wilkinson, C. (2020). Imposter syndrome and the accidental academic: An autoethnographic account. International Journal for Academic Development. 25. (4). pp. 363-374.

Benwell, M.C., Davies, A., Evans, B. & Wilkinson, C. (2020). Engaging political histories of urban uprisings with young people: the Liverpool riots, 1981 and 2011. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space. 38. (4). pp. 599-618.

Wilkinson, C., Carter, B., Bray, L. & Keating, P. (2020). The absent-present researcher: Data analysis of pre-recorded parent-driven campaign videos. Children’s Geographies. 18. (2). pp. 162-175.

Wilkinson, C. & Wilkinson, S. (2019). The only way is ethics: Applying for National Health Service ethical approval and governance for research with children. Children’s Geographies. 17. (4). pp. 480-486. 

Wilkinson, C. (2019). The performance of youth voice on the airwaves. Children’s Geographies. 17. (3). pp. 334-346.

Wilkinson, C. (2019). On the same wavelength? Hyperdiverse young people at a community radio station. Social & Cultural Geography. 20. (9). pp. 1251-1265

Wilkinson, C. & Wilkinson, S. (2017). Doing it write: Representation and responsibility in writing up participatory research involving young people. Social Inclusion. 5. (3). pp.  219-227.

Wilkinson, C. (2016). “Babe, I like your lipstick”: Rethinking researcher personality and appearance. Children’s Geographies. 14. (1). pp. 115-123.