Dr Dai O'Brien

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Biography
My Latest
My Most Viewed

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Contact

profile_image:

Name:

Dr Dai O'Brien

Email address:

d.obrien@yorksj.ac.uk

Department:

School of Languages and Linguistics

Address:

Lord Mayor's Walk, York, YO31 7EX

Country:

Biography

Expertise:

Deaf, Deafhood, BSL, Bourdieu, Creative research methods, Spatial theory

Job title:

Lecturer in BSL and Deaf Studies

Biography:

After studying Biological Sciences at undergraduate level, I took an MSc in Deaf Studies at the University of Bristol’s Centre for Deaf Studies. After taking some time out to travel and work in the NHS, I returned to academia to take an MRes in Sociology in the University of Bristol and then a PhD in the School for Policy Studies in the same university. My research focus was the transitional experiences of young d/Deaf people from mainstream school, exploring their experiences through the use of photo-elicitation interviews, critical discourse analysis of government transition planning policy and interviews with professionals who worked with d/Deaf young people. I have recently completed a project funded by the SRHE through their 2017 Newer Researchers Prize entitled 'The Places and Spaces of Deaf Academia', which examined the experiences of deaf academics working in HEIs in the UK. This project used visual methods and spatial theory from Lefebvre (among others) to analyse the results. I ran an AHRC project funded under their Connected Communities stream. This project, titled Lost Spaces, explored the effect of the closure of community spaces on Deaf people in Bristol. It was a multi-method project, using re-enactment, archive footage screening, poetry and filming workshops to explore Deaf people’s reactions to and feelings about the closures. I am one of the founders of the Bridging the Gap conference series, which aims to bring together Deaf Studies professionals and the Deaf community. My area of interest lies in all aspects of Deaf studies, in particular Deafhood, Deaf education and the effects of mainstream education on the Deaf community. I am keen to develop a more sociological understanding of the Deaf community in the UK and am a member of the British Sociological Association, and the BSA’s Bourdieu and Disability Studies study groups. I am also interested in developing visual research methods for researching in partnership with the Deaf community, to make the research process more accessible and more Deaf-friendly.

Qualifications:

PhD Social Work – University of Bristol, December 2012. Thesis title: “d/Deaf young people's experiences of transition planning in England: using auto-driven photo-elicitation interviews and Critical Discourse Analysis to explore experiences of policy and practice”. MRes Sociology – University of Bristol, September 2009. Dissertation title: “d/Deaf people’s experience of the transition from mainstream schooling to higher education in the UK”. MSc Deaf Studies – University of Bristol, July 2006. Dissertation title: “What’s the sign for pint? An invesigation into the validity of two different models to describe Bristol’s current Deaf pub culture”. BSc (hons) Biological Sciences – University of Bristol, July 2004

My Latest

O'Brien, Dai, Stead, Lisa and Nourse, N. (2017) Bristol Deaf Memories: archives, nostalgia and the loss of community space in the deaf community in Bristol. Social and Cultural Geography.
O'Brien, Dai (2017) Auto-driven photo-elicitation interviews with young deaf people. In: Boucher, Michael, (ed.) Participant empowerment through photo-elicitation in ethnographic education research: New perspectives and approaches. Springer, pp. 47-70
O'Brien, Dai and Kusters, Annelies (2017) Visual methods in deaf studies: using photography and filmmaking in research with deaf people. In: Kuster, Annalies, De Meulder, Maartje and O'Brien, Dai, (eds.) Innovations in deaf studies: the role of deaf scholars. Oxford University Press, pp. 265-296
O'Brien, Dai (2017) Deaf-led Deaf Studies: using Kaupapa Maori principles to guide the development of deaf research practices. In: Kusters, Annalies, De Meulder, Maartje and O'Brien, Dai, (eds.) Innovations in deaf studies: the role of deaf scholars. Perspectives on deafness . Oxford University Press, pp. 57-76
Kusters, Annelies, De Meulder, Maartje and O'Brien, Dai (2017) Innovations in deaf studies: critically mapping the field. In: Kusters, Annalies, De Meulder, Maartje and O'Brien, Dai, (eds.) Innovations in deaf studies: the role of deaf scholars. Perspectives on deafness . Oxford University Press, pp. 1-56
Smith, Amanda and O'Brien, Dai (2017) Use of Videos in Teaching and Learning: Creating Language Video Resources for British Sign Language (BSL). In: Xiang, Catherine, (ed.) Cases on Audio-Visual Media in Language Education. IGI Global, pp. 1-21
O'Brien, Dai and Emery, Steven D. (2014) The Role of the Intellectual in Minority Group Studies: Reflections on Deaf Studies in Social and Political Contexts. Qualitative Inquiry, 20 (1). pp. 27-36.
O'Brien, Dai (2015) Transition planning for d/Deaf young people from mainstream schools: professionals’ views on the implementation of policy. Disability & Society, 30 (2). pp. 227-240.

My Most Viewed

	Item title	Views
1	Transition planning for d/Deaf young people from mainstream schools: professionals’ views on the implementation of policy	588
2	Auto-driven photo-elicitation interviews with young deaf people	570
3	The Role of the Intellectual in Minority Group Studies: Reflections on Deaf Studies in Social and Political Contexts	523
4	Use of Videos in Teaching and Learning: Creating Language Video Resources for British Sign Language (BSL)	516
5	Deaf-led Deaf Studies: using Kaupapa Maori principles to guide the development of deaf research practices	421
6	Visual methods in deaf studies: using photography and filmmaking in research with deaf people	400
7	Innovations in deaf studies: critically mapping the field	381
8	Bristol Deaf Memories: archives, nostalgia and the loss of community space in the deaf community in Bristol	308