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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Sarah has over 25 years working in organisational communications in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.  Her interests focus on how to bring about, understand, manage, and implement change.  Areas of expertise include:

  • organisational communications drawing on a range of sociological theories from the work of Bourdieu, Habermas, Bauman, Goffman, Foucault and more recently a range of feminist theories (in particular, radical feminism)
  • building belonging, community, and identification both inside and outside organisations drawing on the theoretical lens of sense-making and sense-giving 
  • exploring the sociology and evolution of the professions in an age of liquid modernity, with a specific interest in 'discourse work' such as public relations, public affairs, advocacy, and activism and is becoming increasingly drawn to metamodernism to reflect the reality of working in complexity
  • radical pedagogy to support graduates and those in the professions to build the sensibilities to navigate the precarity and liminality prevalent in late modernity
  • the role of the media in shaping and reflecting cultural norms

Key Publications

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Developing an original Café Delphi historical method to research women’s individual and collective experiences of sex, sexuality, and sexism in PR in the 1990s, Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 16 Aug 2023, In: Corporate Communications
  • Graduate Sensibilities: a Metamodern Pedagogical Framework for a Wicked World, Bowman, S., Stephenson, C., Humble, D. 27 Jun 2023, Annual Three Rivers Conference: The North East Universities Consortium
  • PR Power in the 1990s: Sex, sexuality, and sexism – a UK perspective, Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 2023, Women’s Work (in PR), Emerald
  • Recognising a signature pedagogy for Public Relations teaching and learning in the last twenty years: The major driver for change in Public Relations education has been the constant struggle to prove our value, Kinnear, S., Bowman, S. 1 Aug 2023, In: Corporate Communications
  • The future of clinical trials - is it virtual?, Ng, C., Bowman, S., Ling, J., Bagshaw, R., Birt, A., Yiannakou, Y. 7 Sep 2023, In: British Medical Bulletin
  • Developing a Café Delphi historical method to study female experiences of sex, sexuality, and sexism in PR in the 1990s., Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 7 Jul 2022, 12th International History of PR Conference
  • Metamodern sensibilities: Toward a pedagogical framework for a wicked world, Bowman, S., Salter, J., Stephenson, C., Humble, D. 9 Dec 2022, In: Teaching in Higher Education
  • Women and Leadership in Public Relations and Communication Management: Developing a Rhizomatic Typology of Knowledge and Professional Development as an Ecological Radical Feminine Perspective, Bowman, S., Yaxley, H. 5 Aug 2022, Towards a New Understanding of Masculine Habitus and Women and Leadership in Public Relations, London, Taylor & Francis
  • Internal crisis communication and the social construction of emotion: university leaders' sensegiving discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic, Yeomans, L., Bowman, S. 20 Jul 2021, In: Journal of Communication Management
  • Twenty years of teaching Public Relations - Exploring a signature pedagogy for the field, Kinnear, S., Bowman, S. 24 Jun 2021, 11th International History of PR Conference, University of Boston

Professional Activity

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Publication Peer-review: Journal of Communication (Journal) 2023
  • Publication Peer-review: Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education (Journal) 2022
  • Publication Peer-review: Corporate Communications (Journal) 2021
  • Membership of committee: Chartered Institute of Public Relations (External organisation) 2020
  • Membership of committee: Chartered Institute of Public Relations (External organisation) 2020
  • Other: North East Sales and Marketing Academy 2020
  • Other: Examiner, PR Academy 2020
  • Consultancy: Project: Roll out of CDRC_Precision for the Academic Health Science Network 2019
  • Organising a conference, workshop, ...: 19th Annual Congress of the European Public Relations Research Association (EUPRERA) 2017
  • Membership of committee: Euprera Public Affairs Network (External organisation) 2017

PGR Supervision

Gloria Walker Determining best practices in development communication: efficiency or effectiveness? An investigation into NGO communications practices in developing economies and their impact on participants in development projects Start Date: 01/03/2022

Qualifications

  • Philosophy PhD August 04 2017
  • Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy SFHEA 2021

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