Dr Susanne Langer
Senior Lecturer
My profile
Biography
My professional expertise lies in the field of applied, qualitative and interdisciplinary research, particularly in the field of health and illness.
I have a rock-solid track record of research on chronic illness, and a long-standing interest in the study of personhood, welfare and well-being from critical and ethnographic perspectives.
I am deeply committed to advancing and innovating qualitative research methods in all their diversity, as is evidenced in my research and publications. I have been involved with studies that have used inquest files to understand lives ending in suicide; identified treatment preferences for diabetes using deliberative methods; evaluated the Short Breaks for Disabled Children Pathfinder Programme; and investigated the links between chronic illness, depression and anxiety, and healthcare use.
Recently, Dr Geoff Bunn and I conducted an action research project that brought together education, psychology and critical theory. The project was informed by psycho-social pedagogy and investigates the transformation of learners’ agency in the context of Higher Education. The work was supported by a CeLT Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Grant and insights from the study have been incorporated into my approach to teaching and learning.
Academic and professional qualifications
I hold a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester. The research was based on over a year of ethnographic fieldwork and investigated ideas of ‘normality’, productivity, and personhood amongst a group of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The resulting thesis, titled ‘Striving to be ‘Normal’ with MS: Embodied Hegemony in Northwest England’ was examined by Professor Marilyn Strathern (University of Cambridge).
I also successfully completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PgCAP) (Merit) at Manchester Metropolitan University and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Languages
English and German
Expert reviewer
- Anthropology Matters Journal
- BMC Family Practice
- British Journal of Social Work
- Health Expectations
- Journal of Psychosomatic Research
- Feminism & Psychology
- Mortality
- Patient Education and Counselling
- Qualitative Methods in Psychology (QMiP) Bulletin
- Qualitative Research
- Pedagogy, Culture & Society
- PLOS ONE
- Social Science Computer Review
- Social Science and Medicine
- Sociology of Health and Illness
Community, charity and NGO links
Health, Psychology and Communities Research Centre (MMU)
Greater Manchester Third Sector Research Network.
Prizes and awards
2021 MMU Student Union Awards Winner: Best Department - Psychology
2019 MMU Student Union Awards Shortlisted: Best Postgraduate Supervisor
2019 MMU Student Union Awards Winner: Outstanding Innovation in Teaching
Editorial Board membership
Qualitative Methods in Psychology (QMiP) Bulletin (2017-2019)
Membership of professional associations
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Royal Anthropological Institute Fellow
Impact
Policy guidance by the Department of Children, Schools and Families following recommendations of Langer, S., Collins M., Welch, V., Wells E., Hatton C., Robertson, J., Emerson, E. (2010) A Report on Themes Emerging from Qualitative Research into the Impact of Short Break Provision on Families with Disabled Children DCSF-RR221
Projects
“Post-Show Talk: Lippy – A Play about Four Women’s Suicide Pact” (2015), Dead Centre & SICK! Festival, The Lowry, Manchester, 25 March
“Personal Approaches to the Help and Support by People who Self-Injure: Developing a Research Agenda” Langer, S. and Benson, I. (2015), Mind (Lancashire) Conference: Self-Harm, Blackburn, 2nd March
Teaching
Why study…
Studying is about more than acquiring skills or learning about the accepted facts of a particular discipline. Instead, learning is a necessary political activity. As Wendy Brown writes:
Democracy in an era of enormously complex global constellations and powers requires a people who are educated, thoughtful, and democratic in sensibility. This means a people modestly knowing about these constellations and powers; a people with capacities of discernment and judgment in relation to what it reads, watches, or hears about a range of developments in the world; and a people oriented toward common concern and governing itself. (Undoing the Demos, p. 199-200).
Postgraduate teaching
Research Principles and Methods (L7).
Supervision
I regularly supervise MSc students across a range of postgraduate degrees.
PhD completions: Anne-Marie Martindale (1st SV), Debbie Thackray (DoS)
Current PhD students: Khadijah Diskin (DoS), Rabeya Riaz (DoS), Julia Robinson (DoS), Allison Tingle (1st SV), Ben Leinster (1st SV), Chris Telford (1st SV)
Research outputs
My doctoral research training and my professional career included practice in a full range qualitative research approaches. Substantively, health and illness, personhood and agency have persistently remained the key themes shaping my research interests:
- Personhood and identity
- Health and illness, including mental health and particularly chronic illness
- Welfare (well-faring) and well-being
- Embodiment, substances, technologies
- Relations and assemblages
- Psychosocial pedagogy (Lacan)
- Qualitative research methods and methodologies
- Qualitative research design, implementation and analysis (inc. NVivo)
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
Scourfield, J., Langer, S., Fincham, B., Shiner, M. (2011) Understanding Suicide: A Sociological Autopsy. Palgrave MacMillan.
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Chapters in books
Langer, S.G. (2010) 'Distributed Personhood and the Transformation of Agency: An Anthropological Perspective on Inquests.' In Hockey, J., Komaromy, C., Woodthorpe, K. (ed.) The Matter of Death: Space, Place and Materiality. Palgrave Macmillan,
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Reports
Langer, S.G. CHOICE (2013). http://www.invo.org.uk/posttypenews/choice-choosing-health-options-in-chronic-care-emergencies:
Langer, S.G., Collins, M., Welch, V., Wells, E., Hatton, C., Robertson, J., Emerson, E. A Report of Themes Emerging from Qualitative Research into the Impact of Short Break Provision on Families with Disabled Childrend.
Robertson, J., Hatton, C., Wells, E., Collins, M., Langer, S.G., Welch, V., Emerson, E. The Impacts of Short Break Provision on Disabled Children and Families: an International Literature Review.
Howcroft, D., Langer, S.G., Westrup, C. Final Project Report: Women in North-West Shared Services (WiSS).
Bunn, G., Langer, S. (2021) The sublime object of education Lacan and education policy: the other side of education, by Matthew Clarke.
Welch, V., Collins, M., Hatton, C., Emerson, E., Robertson, J., Wells, E., Langer, S. (2014) Short Break and Respite Services for Disabled Children in England: Comparing Children's and Parents' Perspectives of Their Impact on Children.
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Journal articles
Smith, K., Langer, S. (2023) 'The Impact of Parental Bereavement on Young People: A Thematic Analysis of Using Online Web Forums as a Method of Coping.' Omega: Journal of Death and Dying,
Williams, K., Hartley, S., Langer, S., Manandhar-Richardson, M., Sinha, M., Taylor, P. (2022) 'A systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for people with major depression.' Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy: an international journal of theory and practice, 29(5) pp. 1494-1514.
Bunn, G., Langer, S., Fellows, N.K. (2022) 'Student Subjectivity in the Marketised University.' Frontiers in Psychology, 12
Lindebaum, D., Langer, S. (2022) 'On the psycho-emotional deficitisation of workers in the age of cognitive enhancement.' Organization,
Hopton, K., Langer, S. (2022) '“Kick the XX out of your life”: An analysis of the manosphere’s discursive constructions of gender on Twitter.' Feminism and Psychology, 32(1) pp. 3-22.
Peel-Wainwright, K.M., Hartley, S., Boland, A., Rocca, E., Langer, S., Taylor, P.J. (2021) 'The interpersonal processes of non-suicidal self-injury: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.' Psychology and Psychotherapy: theory, research and practice, 94(4) pp. 1059-1082.
Langer, S., Bunn, G., Fellows, N. (2018) 'Towards a Psychosocial Pedagogy: The 'student journey', intersubjectivity, and the development of agency.' Learning and Teaching in Action, 13(1)
Hunter, C., Chew-Graham, C.A., Langer, S., Drinkwater, J., Stenhoff, A., Guthrie, E.A., Salmon, P. (2015) ''I wouldn't push that further because I don't want to lose her': A multiperspective qualitative study of behaviour change for long-term conditions in primary care.' Health Expectations, 18(6) pp. 1995-2010.
Welch, V., Collins, M., Hatton, C., Emerson, E., Robertson, J., Wells, E., Langer, S. (2014) 'Short break and respite services for disabled children in England: Comparing children's and parents' perspectives of their impact on children.' Children and Society, 28(6) pp. 478-494.
Langer, S., Chew-Graham, C.A., Drinkwater, J., Afzal, C., Keane, K., Hunter, C., Guthrie, E., Salmon, P. (2014) 'A motivational intervention for patients with COPD in primary care: qualitative evaluation of a new practitioner role.' BMC Family Practice, 15
Hunter, C., Chew-Graham, C., Langer, S., Stenhoff, A., Drinkwater, J., Guthrie, E., Salmon, P. (2013) 'A qualitative study of patient choices in using emergency health care for long-term conditions: The importance of candidacy and recursivity.' Patient Education and Counseling, 93(2) pp. 335-341.
Chew-Graham, C.A., Hunter, C., Langer, S., Stenhoff, A., Drinkwater, J., Guthrie, E.A., Salmon, P. (2013) 'How QOF is shaping primary care review consultations: A longitudinal qualitative study.' BMC Family Practice, 14
Langer, S., Chew-Graham, C., Hunter, C., Guthrie, E.A., Salmon, P. (2013) 'Why do patients with long-term conditions use unscheduled care? A qualitative literature review.' Health and Social Care in the Community, 21(4) pp. 339-351.
Drinkwater, J., Salmon, P., Langer, S., Hunter, C., Stenhoff, A., Guthrie, E., Chew-Graham, C. (2013) 'Operationalising unscheduled care policy: A qualitative study of healthcare professionals' perspectives.' British Journal of General Practice, 63(608) pp. e192-e199.
Collins, M., Langer, S.G., Welch, V., Wells, E., Hatton, C., Robertson, J., Emerson, E. (2013) 'A Break from Caring for a Disabled Child: Parent Perceptions of the Uses and Benefits of Short Break Provision in England.' The British Journal of Social Work,
Welch, V., Hatton, C., Emerson, E., Collins, M., Robertson, J., Langer, S., Wells, E. (2012) 'Using direct payments to fund short breaks for families with a disabled child.' Child: Care, Health and Development, 38(6) pp. 900-909.
Hatton, C., Welch, V., Collins, M., Wells, E., Langer, S., Robertson, J., Emerson, E. (2012) 'Evaluating the impact of short breaks on families with a disabled child/young person: Findings and questions.' JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, 56(7-8) pp. 735-735.
Welch, V., Hatton, C., Emerson, E., Robertson, J., Collins, M., Langer, S., Wells, E. (2012) 'Do short break and respite services for families with a disabled child in England make a difference to siblings? A qualitative analysis of sibling and parent responses.' Children and Youth Services Review, 34(2) pp. 451-459.
Scourfield, J., Fincham, B., Langer, S., Shiner, M. (2012) 'Sociological autopsy: An integrated approach to the study of suicide in men.' Social Science and Medicine, 74(4) pp. 466-473.
Robertson, J., Hatton, C., Wells, E., Collins, M., Langer, S., Welch, V., Emerson, E. (2011) 'The Impacts of short break provision on families with a disabled child: An international literature review.' Health and Social Care in the Community, 19(4) pp. 337-371.
Langer, S.G., Hojlund, S. (2011) 'An Anthropology of Welfare: Journeying towards the Good Life.' Anthropology in Action, 18(3)
Shiner, M., Scourfield, J., Fincham, B., Langer, S. (2009) 'When things fall apart: Gender and suicide across the life-course.' Social Science and Medicine, 69(5) pp. 738-746.
Evans, R., Kotchetkova, I., Langer, S. (2009) 'Just around the corner: Rhetorics of progress and promise in genetic research.' Public Understanding of Science, 18(1) pp. 43-59.
Fincham, B., Scourfield, J., Langer, S. (2008) 'The impact of working with disturbing secondary data: Reading suicide files in a coroner's office.' Qualitative Health Research, 18(6) pp. 853-862.
Langer, S., Scourfield, J., Fincham, B. (2008) 'Documenting the quick and the dead: A study of suicide case files in a coroner's office.' Sociological Review, 56(2) pp. 293-308.
Kotchetkova, I., Evans, R., Langer, S. (2008) 'Articulating Contextualized Knowledge: Focus Groups and/as Public Participation?.' Science as Culture, 17(1) pp. 71-84.
Fincham, B., Scourfield, S., Langer, S.G. (2007) 'Documentary Data: Single Medium, Multiple Modes.' Qualitative Researcher, 5(June)
Langer, S.G., Walmsley, E., Fumanti, M., Knox, H. (2006) 'Editorial: From Play to Knowledge: a Workshop on Ethnographic Methodology.' Anthropology Matters Journal, 8
Fumanti, M., Knox, H., Langer, S.G. (2005) 'New Methods in the Anthropology of Science and Technology (ASA Postgraduate Panel).' Anthropology Matters Journal, 7(1)
Langer, S.G. (2005) 'Protecting Patients - Managing Persons.' Anthropology Matters Journal, 7
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Non-peer reviewed articles / reviews
Bunn, G., Langer, S. (2021) Book review: The sublime object of education: Lacan and education policy: the other side of education.