Dr Laurie Parsons

I am a Lecturer and currently Programme Director for the Sociology BA programmes in the school of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy.

My research interests include the use of auto/biographical, feminist and creative methods to research families, family practices and everyday life, gendered intergenerational relationships, and social emotions such as hope, stigma and shame. I'm particularly interested in how people make sense of their experiences and how this relates to affect, narrative and memory, especially in situations that intersect with welfare practices (such as institutionalisation), mental illness, poverty and single parenthood. My BA and MA dissertations both focussed on masculinities in cultural texts.

My teaching focusses on the use of experiential, reflective and creative techniques for learning. 

My PhD was awarded in 2025, titled Shadows of Hope: using haunting-informed auto/biography to explore women's family-making across three women in one family. As part of this PhD I developed a new research process ('haunting-informed auto/biography') and as a result produced a series of short, sociological fictions, life-writings and cultural composites.  

Prior to working at the University I worked in the charity sector in Leicester. I worked as part of a partnership programme, supporting initiatives combining arts and creative education to tackle educational and social inequalities. Prior to this I worked in children's publishing.

My research interests are interdisciplinary, including psychosocial studies, literary theory and sociology. I have used auto/biographical, feminist and creative practices to research families, family practices and everyday life, gendered intergenerational relationships, and social emotions including hope, stigma and shame. I explore how people make sense of their experiences and how this relates to affect, narrative and memory, especially in situations where experience intersects with welfare practice (such as institutionalisation), mental illness, poverty and single parenthood. Previously, my BA and MA dissertations both focussed on masculinities in cultural texts.

I am currently working on a 'zine series with Dr Jessica Urwin, titled 'It's Spooked', which explores hauntology, media and culture, childhood, families, justice and welfare. You can view the series here, and read the accompanying blog here.

I am currently part of the storytelling team on the NIHR-funded I-CARE study exploring retention of NHS staff from minoritised groups, co-led by University of Leicester and University College London. 

My PhD was awarded in 2025, titled Shadows of Hope: using haunting-informed auto/biography to explore women's family-making across three women in one family. As part of this PhD I developed a new research process, 'haunting-informed auto/biography', which combined feminist auto/biography with the psychosocial concept of haunting. I focussed on re-constructing the lives of women in my own family through family stories and by re-visiting 'family homes' of the past. I also 'met' with women in archival, especially institutional, material, whose lives and experiences had been hidden or lost throughout time. I argue that intersubjective, intergenerational exchange is a misrecognised and often invisible aspect of research processes, and research processes must engage in emotional work that can make sense of, and sometimes resolve, injustices of the past which create stigma, shame, hope and pride in present family relationships. As a result I produced a series of short, sociological fiction, life-writings and cultural composites.

Parsons, L., & Goodwin, J. (2025). Between the Field and Elsewhere: Using Dialogic Collaborative Autoethnography in Ethnographic Restudies. Qualitative Inquiry, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10778004251355903

Goodwin J, & Parsons L. (2021) A Life in Motion: Exploring Auto/Biographical Exchanges by Walking With Nelson Sullivan. Sociological Research Online.  doi:10.1177/13607804211025541

Goodwin, J., O'Connor, H. and Parsons, L. (2020) Certainties and control in the lives of young men: Stories from three research projects, in Nico, M. and Caetano, A (2020) Structure and Agency in Young People's Lives. London Routledge (forthcoming)

Goodwin, J. Parsons, L., and O'Connor, H. (2020) COVID-19: A Global 'Civilising Offensive', Timelines, Issue 29 pp.13-15

Goodwin, J. and Parsons, L. (2020) Locating the auto/biographical: sociological exchanges through walking with Nelson Sullivan, School of Media, Commutation and Sociology: Occasional Paper. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31346.73928

Parsons, L. (2020) 'Harriet Martineau' chapter in Paul Atkinson, Sara Delamont, Alexandru Cernat, Joseph W. Sakshaug & Richard A. Williams (eds), Sage Research Methods Foundation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781526421036905571

I'd be open to supervising projects exploring:
- Family, families, family practices
- Gender, generations, masculinties
- Social emotions - shame, hope, pride, stigma etc.
- Experiences of welfare, institutionalisation, poverty or food security/insecurity
- Other aspects of psychosocial studies or interdisciplinary projects

Or using:
- Creative methods, especially the use of fiction, storytelling, life-writing, auto/biography or autoethnography etc.
- Archive methods
- Other qualitative methods

I can also supervise projects related to my practitioner background in children's publishing and children and young people's charities 

I am currently the undergraduate Programme Director for Sociology programmes in the School of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy. I lead and teach on a number of undergraduate modules, and am the careers and employability lead for the School.

• SY1004/5 Sociology in Practice (1st Year, Module Convenor)
• SY2001 Media, Culture and the Lifecourse (2nd Year, Module Convenor with Dr Jessica Urwin)
• SY2093 Doing Qualitative Research (2nd Year, Module Convenor)
• SY3094 Selfie Society (3rd Year, Module Convenor)

I also contribute to the modules SY2084 Bringing Sociology to Work, SY3091 Education and Social Justice, SY3100 Social Psychology and SY3095 Body and Society.

Recent Talks:

• May 2026 - 'Using Archives in a Sociology PhD' - ESRC PGR Archival Training 'Introduction to Archives' led by Sarah Wood (archivist), University of Leicester
• June 2025 - 'Working with Archival Ghosts' - British Sociological Association Archive Study Group Symposium, University of Leicester 

I have co-organised the following activities and events:

• ‘Celebrating 75 Years of Sociology’ Exhibition — exhibited May–September 2025. In collaboration with Archives and Special Collections (University of Leicester) and student volunteers.

• Practice of Storytelling event series — April 2022 (Attenborough Arts Centre) and June 2022 (College Court, Leicester).

• ‘Doing Things Differently’ PhD Workshop — July 2019 Co‑led with Dr Will Davis and Dr Jan Davis at the University of Leicester.

BA English Literature - Canterbury Christ Church University completed 2012. 2:1.

MA Contemporary Sociology - University of Leicester completed 2018. Distinction.