Staff profile
Dr Cristina Costa
Associate Professor
Ph.D

Affiliation | Room number | Telephone |
---|---|---|
Associate Professor in the School of Education | CB2020 | |
DRMC Co-Director (MA in Research Methods) in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health |
Biography
Biography
I am an academic with a strong interest in educational and digital practices and inequalities. I am particularly interested in exploring – both in my research and in my teaching - the intersection of education and emergent social phenomena through different social theory lenses. I have conducted research on widening participation, digital literacies and digital inequalities, curriculum innovation and digital scholarship practices in the last few years.
Recent projects:
- 2023-24: Co-production of digital cultural knowledge with primary school children: fostering early digital literacy development(with Dr Micahela Oliver). Funded by Research England
- 2020-22 From on-campus to online: International students returning to academia in the context of COVID-19 with Dr Huaping Li (Shanghai Normal University), funded by BA/Leverhulme Small Grants. (see report + Blogpost)
-
2022 - The Durham University Digital Literacy Clinic with Dr Michaela Oliver. Funded by ESRC IAA.
I have supervised PGR students in a wide range of areas, including digital literacies and digital practices, internationalisation of curriculum, estranged students, gendered practices, etc.
I currently convene and teach the PGT modules Digital Technologies and the UG module Digital Society: Theory and Practice. I currently also teach the following MA modules:
- Narrative inquiries
I served as Programme Director (student experience) for the Master's in Education programme (2020 - 2022) and Research Environment Co-ordinators within the School of Education (2022).
Currently, I coordinate Student Recruitment, Marketing & Internationalisation for the School.
I am Co-Director (MA in Research Methods) in the Durham Research Methods Centre
I act as co-convenor of the BERA Social Theory and Education SIG
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Information for Prospective Doctoral Research Student Supervisions
I would be pleased to work with students interested in pursuing research in areas of inquiry related to to interplay between digital society/teachnology and critical education, curriculum, student experience and/or educational and/or digital inequalities. I have a strong interest in working with students wishing to engage with social theories as part of their research projects, including the wrks of Pierre Bourdiue, Paulo Freire, Axel Honneth, amongst others,
Research interests
- Social Theory
- Critical Digital Literacies
- Widening Participation
- Educational and Digital Inequalities
- Digital Scholarship Practices
- Higher Education
- Digital education
Research Projects
- From on-campus to online: International students returning to academia in the context of COVID-19
Esteem Indicators
- 0000: External Examining: I often examine Ph.D and Ed.D theses at different British universities. I have also served as an examiner for Ph.D theses and Master’s dissertations in mainland Europe (Portugal and Spain), Australia, and Brazil.
- 0000: Peer reviewing:
- Australasian Journal of Educational Technology
- Critical Studies in Education
- International Journal of Lifelong Education
Editorial Board Member Book Series Social Theory and Methodology in Education Research, Bloomsbury Publishing
Co-Covenor of the BERA Social Theory and Education SIG (2020 -) and the ;BSA study group ‘Digital Sociology ;(2016 - 2021)
Media Contacts
Available for media contact about:
- Subject specialists:
- General policy:
- Education:
- Subject specialists:
- Social and ethical inequality:
- Sociology:
Publications
Chapter in book
- Murphy, Mark & Costa, Cristina (2022). Social theory and methodology in education research: From conceptualisation to operationalisation. In Social Theory and Education Research Understanding Foucault, Habermas,Bourdieu and Derrida. Murphy, Mark London: Routledge. 24-43.
- Murphy, Mark & Costa, Cristina (2022). Social theory and methodology in education research: From conceptualisation to operationalisation. In Social Theory and Education Research Understanding Foucault, Habermas, Bourdieu and Derrida. Murphy, Mark Routledge.
- Costa, Cristina (2020). The Politics of Academic Life: Professional Identities and Intellectual Selves in Neo-Liberal Times. In Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education: Critical Perspectives on Institutional Research. Murphy, Mark, Burke, Ciaran, Costa, Cristina & Raaper, Rille Bloomsbury Academic. 87-96.
- Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark (2019). EU Digital Media Policies and Education: The Challenge of a Digital Agenda for Europe. In Education and Public Policy in the European Union: Crossing Boundaries. St. John, Sarah & Murphy, Mark Palgrave Macmillan. 149-164.
- Costa, Cristina (2018). Digital Scholars: A Feeling for the Academic Game. In Feeling Academic in the Neoliberal University: Feminist Flights, Fights and Failures. Taylor, Yvette & Lahad, Kinneret Palgrave Macmillan. 345-368.
- Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark (2016). Digital Scholarship: Recognizing New Practices in Academia. In Encyclopedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory. 1.
- Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark (2015). Bourdieu and the application of habitus across the social sciences. In Bourdieu, Habitus and Social Research: The Art of Application. Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark Palgrave. 3-20.
- Costa, Cristina (2015). Academics Online: Fighting for a New Habitus. In Bourdieu, Habitus and Social Research: The Art of Application. Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark Palgrave Macmillan UK. 151-166.
- Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark (2015). Doxa, digital scholarship and the academy. In Theory as Method in Research: On Bourdieu, Social Theory and Education. Murphy, Mark & Costa, Cristina Routledge. 49-62.
Edited book
- Murphy, M., Burke, C., Costa, C. & Raaper, R. (2020). Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education. Critical Perspectives on Institutional Research. Social Theory and Methodology in Education Research. Bloomsbury.
- Murphy, Mark, Burke, Ciaran Costa, Cristina & Raaper, Rille (2020). Social Theory and the Politics of Higher Education: Critical Perspectives on Institutional Research. Social theory and methodology in education research. Bloomsbury Academic.
- Breeze, Maddie, Taylor, Yvette & Costa, Cristina (2019). Time and Space in the Neoliberal University. Palgrave.
- Costa, Cristina & Condie, Jenna (2018). Doing Research In and On the Digital: Research Methods across Fields of Inquiry. Routledge.
- Murphy, Mark & Costa, Cristina (2015). Theory as Method in Research: On Bourdieu, Social Theory and Education. Routledge.
- Costa, Cristina & Murphy, Mark (2015). Bourdieu, Habitus and Social Research: The Art of Application. Palgrave.
Journal Article
- Costa, Cristina & Li, Huaping (2023). Digital cultural knowledge and curriculum: the experiences of international students as they moved from on-campus to on-line education during the pandemic. Learning, Media and Technology
- Li, Huaping & Costa, Cristina (2022). ‘Why Do We Think We Are Doing Everything Right [Just] Because We Do It’ What Transforms Chinese and Scottish Student-teachers’ Taken-for-granted Views in Study Abroad Experiences. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 52(7): 1170-1188.
- Costa, Cristina Taylor, Yvette, Goodfellow, Claire & Ecochard, Sidonie (2020). Student estrangement in higher education: identity formation and the struggle against stigma. British Journal of Sociology of Education 41(5): 685-700.
- Costa, C., Taylor, Y., Goodfellow, C. & Ecochard, S. (2020). Estranged students in higher education: navigating social and economic capitals. Cambridge Journal of Education 50(1): 107-123.
- Costa, Cristina, Gilliland, Gemma & McWatt, Jennifer (2019). ‘I want to keep up with the younger generation’ - older adults and the web: a generational divide or generational collide? International Journal of Lifelong Education 38(5): 566-578.
- Costa, Cristina, Hammond, Michael & Younie, Sarah (2019). Theorising technology in education: an introduction. Technology, Pedagogy and Education 1.
- Costa, Cristina, Burke, Ciaran & Murphy, Mark (2019). Capturing habitus: theory, method and reflexivity. International Journal of Research & Method in Education 42(1): 19-32.
- Murphy, Mark & Costa, Cristina (2019). Digital scholarship, higher education and the future of the public intellectual. Futures 111: 205-212.
- Costa, Cristina, Murphy, Mark, Pereira, Ana Lucia & Taylor, Yvette (2018). Higher education students’ experiences of digital learning and (dis)empowerment. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology
- Costa, Cristina & Harris, Lisa (2017). Reconsidering the technologies of intellectual inquiry in curriculum design. The Curriculum Journal 28(4): 559.
- Costa, Cristina (2016). Double gamers: academics between fields. British Journal of Sociology of Education 37(7): 993.
- Costa, Cristina (2015). Outcasts on the inside: academics reinventing themselves online. International Journal of Lifelong Education 34(2): 194.
- Costa, Cristina (2013). The habitus of digital scholars. Research in Learning Technology 21(1): 21274.
Other (Digital/Visual Media)
- Costa, Cristina (2023). Should schools fear or embrace the digital world. Teachers Talk Radio.
- Singh, Samia (Illustrator) Taylor, Yvette & Costa, Cristina (2020). Estranged Students: (Widening) Participation Postcards.
Report
- Costa, Cristina & Li, Huaping (2022). The Online Response of Higher Education to the Pandemic: A Snapshot of International Students’ Experiences in the UK. School of Education. Durham, School of Education, Durham University.
- Costa, Cristina, Li, Huaping & Singh, Samia (Illustrator) (2022). The Online Response of Higher Education to the Pandemic: A Snapshot of International Students’ Experiences in the UK. School of Education. Durham, School of Education, Durham University.
- Taylor, Yvette Costa, Cristina & Singh, Samia (Illustrator) (2019). Estranged Students: Illustrating the Issues. University of Strathclyde.