Karen Radcliffe MA FHEA PGCAP BA

I am a senior lecturer on the Events Management BA (Hons) course at Manchester Metropolitan University and teach on the dissertation unit for the MSc Crowd Safety and Risk Analysis course. I work as a year manager on the course and feel strongly about building relationships with students during their time at university so that they feel supported and encouraged to do well on their course and then onto industry. I have been involved in the events industry in various roles for over 35 years and I am still working in events as a Festival operations manager for Greenbelt Festival which is a festival I have been involved with since the 80’s.

I am passionate about the event industry and especially live music/ outdoor and festivals and my teaching is about me sharing this passion, informing my students about as much as I can about this wonderful industry and getting in as many industry experts in to share their experiences with my students.

My main role is working as a senior lecturer teaching across all year groups on the Events Management Programme. I specialise in teaching on the festival and celebration optional unit delivered at level 5 and this is where I bring in my industry connections and friends in to  give the students further insight into this area of events. I am also the unit leader for the live event unit at level 5. This is a unit which allows the students to work in groups and plan and deliver a live event for a charity client. It is a great opportunity for the students to take what they have learnt in their first year of study and put it into practice by producing a live charity fundraising event based on a client’s brief as they would do in an industry setting. 

I am also the unit leader for the dissertation unit for the MSc Crowd Safety & Risk analysis course which allows the industry professionals on the course to do some research into the subject area of crowd management, safety & risk within the context of their own working environment. This allows for some really interesting research and collaboration.

I undertake the role of a year manager on the UG programme so that there is continuity for the students throughout their study of a point of contact should they require additional support.