Dr Laura Cashman

Before joining CCCU in 2009, I taught Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow and University of St Andrews. I currently teach modules on Global Politics and Diplomacy with an emphasis on decolonising the subject material and widening debates to take account of power relations.

I graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a BA in European Studies and subsequently continued my postgraduate studies in Central and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow. My PhD, funded by the ESRC and a Europe Asia Studies scholarship, was awarded in 2007. My thesis examined the implementation of Romani integration policies in the Czech Republic and my research continues to focus on the racist discrimination against Romani communities across the EU.

I am a feminist academic with extensive teaching experience in Higher Education. My teaching approach emphasises challenging discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, class or ability, to allow all students to achieve their full potential.

In 2020 I became a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2018 I won the ‘Expect Respect’ CCCU Golden Apple Teaching Award.

I have been external examiner for politics degrees at the University of Brighton and London Metropolitan University.

In 2022-23 I am leading following modules:

• Level 4: Power, Politics and the State
• Level 6: Foreign Policy Analysis
• Level 7: Advanced Principles in Politics and IR

The main focus of my research concerns the racist discrimination against Romani communities across Europe. I have published articles and book chapters examining specific challenges with education and employment policies in local contexts, focusing particularly on the segregation of Romani children in so-called ‘special’ schools. My research agenda has now broadened to look at wider concerns of the growth of anti-Gypsyism in Europe to understand the persistent failure of state policies to address the social exclusion of Roma. I founded the Roma, Gypsies and Travellers (GRT) Research Network at CCCU to build a learning community of staff and students with an interest in themes related to exclusion of GRT communities.

I have also developed a parallel interest in questions of diplomacy and racism which developed out of my teaching experience and discussions with students. I am particularly interested in questions around decolonising how we research and study questions about foreign policy and international relations.

I am an experienced PhD supervisor and welcome applications on topics close to my areas of specialist research interest. Please get in touch if you have an idea for an interesting project.

Research Projects

• Accommodating Nomadic Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: A Critical Legal Analysis. Researcher(s): Mrs Michelle Andrews. Supervisor(s): Dr Laura Cashman, Professor Susan Millns. [Postgraduate Research Project]
• Arab solidarity in practice: Sense of belonging and integration of Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Tunisia. Researcher(s): Mrs Saliha Smaine. Supervisor(s): Dr Laura Cashman, Professor David Bates. [Postgraduate Research Project]
• Challenging the “Local Turn” in Migrant Integration in the South East of England Under the Coalition and Conservative Governments (2010-2018). A Whole Policy Approach’. Researcher(s): Dr Rachael Coker. Supervisor(s): Dr Laura Cashman, Professor David Bates. [Postgraduate Research Project (past)]
• Nigeria’s Foreign Policy and Global Cooperation: A Focus on the Diversification of National Economy. Researcher(s): Mr Kehinde Abolarin. Supervisor(s): Dr Sarah Lieberman, Dr Laura Cashman. [Postgraduate Research Project]
• Saving Lives or Protecting Borders? An Analysis of EU Policies towards Irregular Migration in Libya and Niger from 2015 to 2020.. Researcher(s): Miss Kumba Krubally. Supervisor(s): Dr Laura Cashman, Professor Susan Millns. [Postgraduate Research Project]
• Why is it so difficult for the European states to achieve a complete Roma inclusion? Case studies: Romania and the United Kingdom. Researcher(s): Miss Ariana Stancu. Supervisor(s): Dr Laura Cashman, Professor David Bates. [Postgraduate Research Project]

I regularly provide peer reviews for academic journals and I have experience as a consultant for EU reports, and as a commentator in the UK media. My expertise has also been called upon as an independent expert in cases related to asylum claims.

• Invited Speaker: Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data’s (WISERD) Bangor University, Roundtable: “Roma civil society organisations in Europe: Navigating uncertainty in times of Brexit and Covid-19” (July 2021).
• Invited Speaker: Loughborough University, London, Roundtable: “Roma Diplomacy and Voice in International Politics” (November 2021).
• BBC Radio Kent ‘Drivetime’ Brexit debate (16 July 2018)
• Chair and participant in round table discussing “Britishness and National Identity” in response to Octopus at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (19 June 2018)
• Keynote speaker: ‘Inspiring Kent Labour Women Event’ (10 March 2018)
• Independent Expert Opinion provided supporting Asylum application of Romani man at the Miami Immigration Court, USA (November 2017)
• Interviewed and quoted in Financial Times article about EU Roma policy ‘Roma: Moving target’ (25 February 2014)
• Consultancy for European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (January 2011)
• Invited Speaker: Disputed Rights: The free movement of Roma as EU citizens, Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Specialist Seminar, Bucharest, Romania (December 2010).
• BBC Expert Adviser on stereotypes depicting Roma ‘Silent Witness’, (February 2010).

 

Peer reviews

I regularly review articles for the following academic journals:

Ethnic and Racial Studies; Ethnopolitics; Europe-Asia Studies; International Journal of Human Rights; Journal of Contemporary European Research; Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; Journal of International and Intercultural Communication; Journal of International Migration and Integration; Nationalities Papers; Patterns of Prejudice; Social Inclusion

 

Publications:

Dr Laura Cashman (2017) ‘New label no progress: Institutional racism and the persistent segregation of Romani students in the Czech Republic’ Race, Ethnicity and Education 20(5) pp.595-608. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2016.1191698

Dr Laura Cashman (2011) ‘Czech Republic Country Report’ in Measures to promote the situation of Roma EU citizens in the European Union, Brussels: European Parliament

Dr Laura Cashman (Ed) (2009) 1948 and 1968 – Dramatic milestones in Czech and Slovak History, London: Routledge.

Dr Laura Cashman (2009) Romani Teaching Assistants in the Czech Education System: An Opportunity to Address Barriers to the Labour Market? In Agarin, T. and Brosig, M. (eds) Minority Integration: Debating Ethnic Diversity in Eastern Europe, Amsterdam: Rodopi pp. 305-330.

Dr Laura Cashman (2008) “Put your own house in order first”: Local perspectives on the influence of the EU on Romani integration policies in Czech Republic, Journal of Contemporary European Research, 4 (3) pp. 193 – 208. 1815-347X

Dr Laura Cashman (2008) Developing an effective Romani integration strategy: Experiences of ethnoculturally neutral and specific policies in the Czech Republic, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 8 (3) pp. 595 – 618.

Dr Laura Cashman (Ed.) (2008) Europe-Asia Studies Special Issue: 1948 and 1968 – Dramatic milestones in Czech and Slovak History, 60 (10)

Dr Laura Cashman (2008) Remembering 1948 and 1968: Reflections on Two Pivotal years in Czech and Slovak History, Europe-Asia Studies, 60 (10) pp. 1645 – 1658. ISSN 1465-3427

Dr Laura Cashman (2008) Implementing National Romani Policy at the Local Level: Experiences of the Preparatory Class Programme in Two Czech Cities, in M. Flynn, J. Oldfield and R. Kay (eds) Trans-National Issues, Local Concerns: Insights from Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and the UK, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, pp. 159 – 176.