![Dr Abs Ashley](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/files/378599448/absAshley.jpg)
Dr Abs Ashley
BA (hons), MA
Current positions
Lecturer
Department of English
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I joined the University of Bristol in 2017, and work as Lecturer in the Department of English.
Research
My research works with late-twentieth and twenty-first century literatures in English in conversation with the nascent and expanding field of critical neurodiversity studies.
My doctoral thesis, was funded by the UKRI (Arts and Humanities Research Council). It examined the intersection of neurodivergence and gender nonconformity in contemporary literatures by autistic and multiply neurodivergent writers. I am currently developing this research into my first book.
Present projects involve the broader exploration of neurodivergence as queerness and its imbrication with other queer articulations and affects. In particular, I’m looking at neurodivergent (a)socialities in contemporary prose forms.
More broadly, I am interested in literary health humanities/critical medical humanities, critical disability studies, (neuro)queer theory, trans studies, intersectional feminism, and queer ecologies.
Teaching
My teaching practice is informed by my research and, as such, I am actively invested in inclusive pedagogies which are anti-racist, anti-ableist, and intersectional in scope.
I have taught, or currently teach, on the following units and courses. I have also supervised students in English, Intercalated Medical Humanities, and those on dual-honours programmes.
Full-time undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes
- MA Animal Planet
- Y3 Celebrity Culture: Icons, Industry and Aesthetics (as Unit Director)
- Y3 Dissertation Workshops
- Y2 Shakespeare
- Y1 Reading Identities
- Y1 Critical Issues
English Literature and Community Engagement programme and short courses
- Literature and the Politics of Gender (ELCE)
- Poetry (ELCE)
- American Literature (ELCE)
- Understanding Critical Theory and Thought (as Unit Director)
- Reading English Literature (Short Course)
- Mastering English Literature (Short Course)
Teaching in other departments
- Y1 The Science of Happiness (Psychology)
- Y1/2/3 Sustainable Development (Human Geography)
- Widening Participation Tutor for the Arts (External Relations)
Publications
Selected publications
12/03/2024The neurodiversity concept was developed collectively
Autism
Recent publications
12/03/2024The neurodiversity concept was developed collectively
Autism
Thesis
Neuroqueering Gender/Genre
Supervisors
Award date
23/01/2024