Author Archives: Catherine Armstrong

About Catherine Armstrong

Dr Catherine Armstrong is a Senior Lecturer in History at Manchester Metropolitan University, specialising in North American History. She is a former teaching fellow in History at the University of Warwick and Oxford Brookes University. Catherine was also Director of Historical Studies in the Open Studies department at the University of Warwick. Her first book ‘Writing North America in the Seventeenth Century’ was published by Ashgate in June 2007. As a long-time jobseeker for an academic role herself, Catherine is in a unique position to understand and offer her knowledge and experience to those developing an academic career.

Employability: a key concept for you and your students

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: March 21, 2011
Categories: Academic Life

The employability agenda is firmly placed in the UK university system now. It argues that universities have a responsibility to prepare young people for the world of work as well as imparting subject knowledge. Some scholars are resistant to this … Read More »

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How to end your career!

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: March 14, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Research, Teaching

In the UK this week there has been a lot of discussion of pensions in the university sector and some lecturers are planning strike action to defend their existing pension schemes. That, along with a fascinating article in Chronicle by  … Read More »

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Becoming a better teacher: plagiarism

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: March 7, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Teaching

Every HE professor, lecturer and tutor has to deal with the issue of plagiarism at some point in his or her career and so it is worth working out early on in your career the best ways to help your … Read More »

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Building a portfolio academic career

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: February 28, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Teaching

This time of the year I am always contacted by the International Baccalaureate Organisation and the AQA examining board asking me if I’d like to do some summer marking for their history qualifications. This is a reminder of the days … Read More »

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Becoming a lecturer: is it worth it?!

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: February 21, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Teaching

We all know that the employment situation in the university sector is challenging at the moment, and that the number of PhD students coming through the system does not equate to the the jobs available for them, so is it … Read More »

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Balancing research and teaching

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: February 14, 2011
Categories: Academic Life, Research, Teaching

This is our ‘reading week’, which is what our university calls half term. It means that we have a week off from our teaching commitments, but every other duty such as meeting attendance and research or writing has to be … Read More »

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A good leader: could it be you?

Contributer: Catherine Armstrong    Posted: February 7, 2011
Categories: Academic Life

In a fascinating University World News article, Amanda Goodall looks at what makes a good university leader. She concludes that academics are the best people for the job, not managers who have been parachuted in from outside. Why is this? … Read More »

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