Our staff
The NSC has a director, four permanent members of academic staff and two members of administrative staff. You can find out more about who we are either by clicking on the relevant name below, or simply scrolling down the page.
The Director
Academic staff
Administrative staff
Honorary Title Holders
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Professor Knut Øystein Høvik Email: nsc-director@york.ac.uk Office: QUH/009 Professor Knut Øystein Høvik began as Director of the Norwegian Study Centre in August 2025. In his permanent position at the University of Inland Norway (Universitetet i Innlandet) at Hamar, Norway, Knut Øystein researches and teaches cultural studies and didactics. He has also been involved in several internationalisation projects in teacher education. Knut Øystein’s relationship with the NSC began back in 1997, as a student at the YorkCourse. He has since been accompanying students of English on short courses, and from 2019 to 2025 served as Vice-Chair on the NSC Board. Career
Recent publications Heggernes, Sissil Lea; Drange, Eli-Marie D. & Høvik, Knut Øystein (2025). “A small piece of my heart remained”: In-service foreign language teachers’ perspectives on short-term mobility in continuous professional development. Nordic Journal of Language Teaching and Learning (NJLTL). ISSN 2703-8629. 13(1), p. 95–114. DOI: 10.46364/njltl.v13i1.1375. Buseth, Jill Tove; Didham, Robert James; Høvik, Knut Øystein; Martinsen, Marianne & Øyehaug, Anne Bergliot (2025). Exploring teacher educators’ views on interdisciplinary teaching: a cross-disciplinary study of interdisciplinarity for sustainability education. Acta Didactica Norden (ADNO). ISSN 2535-8219. 19(2), p. 1–23. DOI: 10.5617/adno.11405. Høvik, Knut Øystein (2023). From Burning Beds to Rising Seas: Environmental Issues in the Song Lyrics of Midnight Oil. In Ede, Amatoritsero; Kleppe, Sandra Lee & Sorby, Angela (Ed.),Poetry and the Global Climate Crisis: Creative Educational Approaches to Complex Challenges. Routledge. ISSN 9781032508542. p. 27–40. Holander, Stefan Hans Olof & Høvik, Knut Øystein (2023). Urfolksperspektiver i engelskfaget. In Figenschou, Gøril; Karlsen, Silje Solheim & Pedersen, Helge Christian (Ed.), Ávdnet. Samiske tema i skole og utdanning. Universitetsforlaget. ISSN 978-82-15-05804-7. p. 299–314. Høvik, Knut Øystein (2017). Fra British Club til Global English: Engelskfag i utvikling.In Løtveit, Morten (Eds.), Tidssignaler: Lærerutdanningsfag i utvikling: Utdanning av lærere på Hamar - 150 år. Oplandske Bokforlag. ISSN 9788275182515. p. 191–217. |
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Dr. Terry Hathaway Email: terry.hathaway@york.ac.uk Biography Terry has worked at the NSC since 2015. He teaches on a wide variety of subjects, including:
His approach to teaching is founded in radicalism – that is, his approach is centred on contextualising what is within a broader framework of the fundamental meaning and purpose of things. Scholarship and Research Activity Terry’s recent focus has been on writing a book concerning the corporation and its political, social, and economic power. Part of this project has involved constructing the conceptual foundations of an approach to political economy that is inclusive of law, with law often working as a counterpoint to political and economic discourse. Recent publications, some of which are spin-offs from this project, include:
You can also see a recent talk Terry gave at the Paris School of Economics here. |
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Associate Lecturer in English Studies Email: gina.lyle@york.ac.uk Office: QUH/002 Gina’s PhD research at the University of Glasgow centred on the roles of meat in contemporary Scottish writing with an emphasis on class and gender. She specialises in Scottish fiction, and is an editor for The Literary Encyclopedia’s Scottish Culture and Writing Post-45 volume. Her research is highly concerned with food, and she enjoys identifying and analysing recurrent interests and motifs across a period or an author’s corpus. Gina’s teaching interests include contemporary writing, discussions of food in literature, genre fiction, creative engagements with form, writing for children, and folktales. Each of her modules are designed to introduce participants to interesting concepts in literature and encourage their critical engagement with literary texts with dedicated space for nuanced discussion. |
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Senior Lecturer in English Linguistics, Literature and Culture. SFHEA Email: beck.sinar@york.ac.uk Office: QUH/003 Biography BA Linguistics with Literature (York), MA Syntax and Semantics (York), PhD in Historical Linguistic Variation and Change (York, ESRC funded) Beck is a senior lecturer (teaching and scholarship) specialising in contemporary and historical Linguistic Variation and Change. Her interests are many and varied, including:
Beck welcomes supervision or co-supervision of postgraduates in the fields of History of English, Sociolinguistics, and a diverse range of applied linguistics/didactics topics. Academic scholarship and research activity Beck is currently working with Dr Lalita Murty (Christ University, Bangalore, India) and Dr Claire Cowie (University of Edinburgh, Scotland) on further investigating the indexicality of Indian Englishes in Pop Culture. Her ongoing solo project is tracing the development of reflexive pronouns and intensifiers in the history of English. Recent publications:
Beck is a member of the University of York's Learning and Teaching Forum, the INCLUDE Network, SOTL senior leaders, and the leader of the NSC's Green Impact Team (awarded Gold in 2023, and three Platinums in 2024). International Partnerships and Collaboration
Coordinator of NSC-UoY Short Course programmes for all 14 Norwegian HEIs External examiner for BA and MA courses at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), The Western University of Applied Science (HVL), Volda University College (VUC) and Innland University of Applied Sciences (INN). MA supervisor (University of Bergen; Volda University College). Chair of the York-Anglo Scandinavian Society
Member of the Confederation of Scandinavian Societies
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Associate Lecturer in English Studies Email: Benjamin.Bland@york.ac.uk Office: QUH/006 Ben joined the NSC in September 2025. Ben is a historian of identity (particularly "race" and class), culture (especially popular music), and memory in modern Britain. He studied in York (BA, MA) and London (PhD). His interdisciplinary research and teaching is heavily informed by approaches from cultural studies and sociology. His work regularly emphasises global connections and contexts, and his teaching stresses the fundamental importance that histories of migration, imperialism, the Black Atlantic, and continental Europe play in understanding modern Britain. Ben recently completed a Leverhulme-funded project on the relationship between "race" and popular music in postwar Britain. Several articles are forthcoming from this, as well as a book focusing on the history of transatlantic hip-hop culture. He also continues to work on a long-term project, rooted in his PhD research, that explores the relationship between fascism and the broader politics of memory and identity in modern Britain. |
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Email: oliver.bainbridge@york.ac.uk Office: QUH/006 Oli is a finance and short course administrator at the NSC. Starting in January 2024 on a temporary basis, Oli is now a permanent member of staff with his main responsibilities being with the finances of the NSC. He also works closely with the Office Manager (Michelle Rowland) and Director (Jena Habegger-Conti) to provide administrative support to ensure the NSC's short courses run successfully. |
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Email: michelle.rowland@york.ac.uk Michelle is the Office Manager at the NSC. A graduate of Spanish, she studied at Trinity & All Saints College, Leeds (University of Leeds). She has worked in a variety of different administrative and customer service roles as well as working abroad. Originally from Sheffield, she moved to York in 2010 to work at the University, where she's held a variety of different support roles in various departments. Outside of work Michelle enjoys cycling, going to the theatre, attending creative workshops to learn new skills, screen printing and working towards an Access to HE Art & Design course which she hopes to complete in 2021. |
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Honorary Fellow |
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Honorary Professor Email: gweno.williams@york.ac.uk |
