Skip to main content
Overview

Dr Helen F. Wilson

Associate Professor


Affiliations
AffiliationRoom numberTelephone
Associate Professor in the Department of Geography407+44 (0) 191 33 41876
Associate Professor , Geographies of Life407+44 (0) 191 33 41876

Biography

Biography and Research

I am a social and cultural geographer interested in encounterable life and the geographies of difference with a particular focus on contested forms of coexistence.

My current research focuses on the social, cultural and political dimensions of more-than-human cities and the ethical questions and challenges that are posed by species on the move. These questions are explored in depth through my work on urban kittiwakes in the UK and Norway, which examines the growth of seabird colonies in urban areas, the implications for urban planning and community, and how the presence of oceanic species are changing the way that we think about cities, threatened species, and coastal geographies. As part of this work, I am involved in collaborations with marine ecologists and anthropologists.

My interest in the contested politics of coexistence builds on my wider research around the geographies of encounter, the politics of tolerance, and manifestations of conflict that fold in questions of race, culture and species. It asks how people learn to live with difference in diverse contexts.

My recent book Robin offers a social and cultural history of the robin, cutting across varied geographies, folklore, art, literature and the ambivalent histories of the colour red. It is part of Reaktion’s Animal Series.

Prior to joining the department in 2017, I held lectureships and teaching positions at the University of Hull and Durham University and was a senior lecturer at the University of Manchester. I completed a BA, MA, and PhD (2011) at Durham University.

Keywords: encounterable life; difference; cities; affect and emotion; cultural theory; animal studies; environmental humanities; urban theory.

Research groups

Related Links

Awarded Grants

  • 2021: Solidarity in Diversity(£216594.28 from Interreg (ERDF) Europe)
  • 2019: ESRC IAA Festival of Social Science Event, The Urban Kittiwake Project, ESRC, £1000.00, 2019-04-01 - 2019-03-31
  • 2018: RI150026: IAA Multispecies Entanglements, ESRC Centre for Social and Economic Research, £1000.00, 2018-06-01 - 2019-01-31

Esteem Indicators

  • 0000: Editor: Social & Cultural Geography

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

  • Environmental change: Kittiwakes
  • Environmental change: Urban wildlife

Publications

Authored book

  • Wilson, Helen F. (2022). Robin. Reaktion.

Book review

Chapter in book

  • Farías, Mónica & Wilson, Helen F. (2020). Voluntary Spaces. In Research Ethics for Human Geography. Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan Sage, London.
  • Darling, Jonathan & Wilson, Helen F. (2020). Geography and Ethics. In Research Ethics for Human Geography. Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan Sage.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2020). Data Management. In Research Ethics for Human Geography. Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan Sage, London.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2020). Anonymity. In Research Ethics for Human Geography. Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan Sage, London.
  • Lobo, Michele, Kelly, David & Wilson, Helen F. (2020). Participatory Approaches. In Research Ethics for Human Geography. Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan Sage, London.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2019). Animal Encounters: a genre of contact. In Animal Encounters: Contact, Interaction and Relationality. Bohm, A. & Ullrich, J. J.B.Metzler.
  • Wilson, Helen F, Burman, E, Miles, S & Warren, S (2019). Other(ed) childhoods: supplementary schools and the politics of learning. In Intersectionality and Difference in Childhood and Youth: Global Perspectives. Von Benzon, N. & Wilkinson, C. Routledge.
  • Wilson, Helen F (2018). On the paradox of 'organised' encounter. In Cultural Encounters as Intervention Practices. Christiansen, Lene Bull, Galal, Lise Paulsen & Hvenegard-Lassen,Kirsten Routledge.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2017). Building Coalitions: Solidarities, friendships, and tackling inequality. In Place, Diversity and Solidarity. Oosterlynck, S., Schuermans, N. & Loopmans, M. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 51-70.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2016). Encounters. In Urban Theory: New Critical Perspectives. Jayne, M. & Ward, K. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 109-121.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2016). Encountering Havana: texts, aesthetics, and documentary encounters. In Encountering the City: Urban Encounters from Accra to New York. Darling, J. & Wilson, H.F Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 203-220.
  • Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan (2016). The possibilities of encounter. In Encountering the City: Urban Encounters from Accra to New York. Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 1-24.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2016). Sonic geographies, sound walks and more-than-representational methods. In The Auditory Culture Reader. Bull, M. & Back, L. Bloomsbury. 163-172.

Edited book

  • Wilson, Helen F. & Darling, Jonathan (2020). Research Ethics for Human Geography. Sage.
  • Darling, Jonathan & Wilson, Helen F. (2016). Encountering the City: Urban Encounters from Accra to New York. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Journal Article

Other (Print)

  • Wilson, Helen F. (2017). The Geography of Brexit.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2017). The rise of intolerance? Brexit and the problem with stasis. 25-27.
  • Wilson, Helen F. (2016). BREXIT: ON THE RISE OF ‘(IN)TOLERANCE’. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space (open site)

Supervision students