Dr Dai O'Brien

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.