Dr Anna Brown
Senior Lecturer
Biography
My research and approach to teaching draws on my background in craft work and Fine Art training (BA Hons 2003). My doctoral research followed my own journey to becoming a skilled potter as part of the Scottish craft industry. My interest in craft work continues, both professionally and personally, and I can often be found working with clay at the potter's wheel. Before beginning my academic career, I gained professional experience in economic development and the public sector, having previously worked for the South West Regional Development Agency delivering the UK Government's Business, Innovation and Skills agenda in the South West of England.
I completed a MLitt in Managing in the Creative Industries (2012), and a PhD in Management Studies (2017), both at the University of St Andrews.
I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and in 2019 I was awarded a Teaching Excellence Award for innovation in teaching. In 2021 I was awarded the Management Learning journal's best paper award for my article, 'The mark of the researcher's hand'.
Teaching
- MN2001 Management and Society
- MN5510 Scenario Thinking and Strategy
- MN4103 Creativity in Context Enterprise Project
Research areas
My research draws on processual and post-humanist theories to explore themes of skill, identity, and belonging in a variety of work contexts. I have particular interest in craft work, and the meaning of craft in contemporary society, with a focus on what the materiality of craft work and the process of making can reveal about how organising happens. I adopt qualitative methods, engaging in apprenticeship, ethnography, and auto-ethnography, as well as more experimental methods such as poetic inquiry. My research has been published in internationally excellent journals including Management Learning, Industrial Marketing Management, and Gender Work and Organization; and I have been invited to present my work at leading international conferences including EGOS, PROS, and IMP Asia.
Selected publications
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Open access
Banter and beyond: the role of humor in addressing gendered organizational tensions and belonging within the UK Fire and Rescue Service
Brown, A. M. & Woodfield, R., 13 Jan 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Gender Work and Organisation. Early View, 37 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Feeling clumsy and curious. A collective reflection on experimenting with poetry as an unconventional method
van Amsterdam, N., van Eck, D., Meldgaard Kjær, K., Leclair, M., Theunissen, A., Tremblay, M., Thomson, A., Lafaire, A. P., Brown, A. M., Quental, C., De Coster, M. & Pullen, A., 13 Jun 2023, In: Gender Work and Organisation. 30, 4, p. 1429-1449 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Anything but Sony! Meshworking, identity multiplicity and the emergence of portable music players
McKinlay, M., Brown, A. M. & Trolle Elmholdt, K., 1 Nov 2022, In: Industrial Marketing Management. 107, p. 29-38 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
The mark of the researcher's hand: the imperfections of craft in the process of becoming a qualitative researcher
Brown, A., Nov 2021, In: Management Learning. 52, 5, p. 541-558 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Evaluation of Year 3, and the full three-years of the Student Transitions Enhancement Theme: Evaluation Report
Brown, A. M., Dennis, A., Gordon, L. J., Howden, S. & Jindal-Snape, D., Sept 2017, QAA for Higher Education.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
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Skillful coping: processes of becoming and being in practice
Brown, A., Greig, G. J. & Ferraro, E. R., Jul 2017, Skillful Performance: Enacting Capabilities, Knowledge, Competence, and Expertise in Organizations. Sandberg, J., Rouleau, L., Langley, A. & Tsoukas, H. (eds.). Oxford University Press, (Perspectives on Process Organization Studies (P-PROS); vol. 7).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review
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Sensing bodies: the aesthetics of knowing and practising
Brown, A., Greig, G. & Ferraro, E., 22 Mar 2016, Knowledge and Practice in Business and Organisations. Orr, K., Nutley, S., Russell, S., Bain, R., Hacking, B. & Moran, C. (eds.). New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 89-102 14 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter