Senior Lecturer in English.
Read as widely as possible, across all genres from all over the world.
I ask students to question everything about the world and about themselves. I work to provide a safe and supportive classroom environment where ideas can be tried out. My classroom examines vastly differing cultural, political or philosophical opinions, texts and contexts.
BA (Kings College London); MA 20th Century English and American Literature (Sussex); PhD in English,(Strathclyde University)
1994-1997 Tutor, Department of English, Strathclyde University ; 1997-1998 Visiting lecturer, Department of English, Roehampton Institute, London; 1998-2000 Full-Time Lecturer, Department of English, University College Worcester; 2000-present, Full-Time Senior Lecturer, Department of English Manchester Metropolitan University.
I teach students to think rigorously and to express their thoughts clearly and creatively in writing and other forms. Studying Literature increases our knowledge of philosophy, history and what it means to be human. It promotes democracy, equality and tolerance. It enriches human experience and the capacity for critical thought.
As the website ‘Defend the Arts and Humanities’ notes:
“These skills do not date (unlike many of those taught on vocational training programmes).They will equip students for long-term career development in a rapidly changing professional workplace, and they will always be in demand.”
Postwar to the Present: Literature from 1945 to the present day
Critical Dialogues
Representing Trauma
Reading and Writing Children's Literature
MA Writing For Children
MA English Studies
In Progress: Post-Holocaust Writing Christopher Edgoose
External Examiner for BA English at The University of Northampton
My areas of specialism are Postcolonial literature and theory, nineteenth and twentieth century English literature, African and Caribbean writing, Black British writing and film,Critical Theory, especially queer theory, poststructuralism ecocriticism and feminism.
E. Byrne (2009). Homi K. Bhabha. Palgrave Macmillan.
E. Byrne, M. McQuillan (1999). Deconstructing Disney. Pluto Press.
E. Byrne (2013). Trick questions: cosmopolitan hospitality. Open Arts Journal.
E. Byrne, J. Mullaney, B. Schoene (2012). Barack Obama: Twenty-first-century president. Comparative American Studies. 10(2-3), pp.109-115.
E. Byrne (2012). Forgetting Hawai’i: The Role of Hawai’i in Narratives of Barack Obama’s Legitimacy. Comparative American Studies An International Journal. 10(2-3), pp.188-199.
EA. Byrne, M. McQuillan (2001). Walt Disney's Ape-man: race, writing, humanism. New Formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics. 2001(43), pp.103-116.
E. Byrne (2020). The pursuit of happiness in Nicola Barker’s HAPPY. In: Nicola Barker: Critical Essays. Gylphi,
E. Byrne (2018). Mantel's Social Work Gothic. In: Hilary Mantel: Contemporary Critical perspectives. Bloomsbury,
E. Byrne (2012). Postmodernism and the postcolonial world. In: The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism, Third Edition. pp.86-93.
EA. Byrne Unpacking Homi Bhabha's library: the postcolonial archive.
EA. Byrne Muriel Spark shot in Africa.
'Cosmopolitanism as Critical Practice', Global Stuides Association Coneference, Roehampton, London. Living the Global: The Cultural Experience of Globalisation, 2-4-July 2014
Open University: Open Arts Journal inagural Issue launch. Cosmopolitanism and Hospitality London, 2013.
7-10th September 2010
Texting Obama: Poetics/politics/popular culture International interdiciplinary conference addressing the impact of Obama on multiple media. Manchester Met.
Review Board for New Formations and Open Arts Journal.
Joint award with Prof. Phil Leonard at Nottingham Trent University, British Academy/Leverhulme Network award, 2016-17, for 'Troubling Globalisation: Arts and Humanities Approaches', a series of symposia.https://troublingglobalisation.wordpress.com
Museums and Universities Partnership Initiative 2017-18
Research and collaboration on slavery and colonialism, between Dr Ellie Byrne, English, Dr Marie Molloy, History, National Trust Northwest, Wigan Archives and Touchstones.