Dr Sarah Cant

I joined Canterbury Christ Church University in 2001, after six years as a Research Fellow and a subsequent six years as a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Roehampton University.

In the Sociology Programme we take a team approach to teaching and as such I contribute to many modules across all three years of the undergraduate degree. I teach on the Masters programme and welcome PhD students interested in the sociologies of CAM, mental illness and higher education.

I started studying sociology at the age of 14 (I took one of the first O levels in the subject) and was fortunate to study at Durham and London university, where my love for the subject was consolidated. I am passionate about the promise that a sociology education affords, not least its capacity to foster careful, considered and critical enquiry. As such, I am a strong advocate for the recognition and support of sociology within schools/college and universities.

To this end, I have written a number of books and chapters to showcase why it has never been more important to study sociology and become a sociologist. My own expertise lies in medical sociology and this has focussed my interest in medical knowledges, inequalities and mental health as reflected in many of my research publications. However, my commitment to humane and public sociology - that which seeks to make the lives of ordinary people better, even if in small ways - has also shaped my research projects and sits behind work that has sought to explore and explain the mental health of students, violence against women and girls, and community resilience.

Whilst my main research area lies in the Sociology of Health and Illness, I contribute to a wide range of modules, reflecting a broad based expertise in Sociology, Social Theory and Social Research Methods. As such, I am centrally involved in the delivery of our Level 4 modules. 

In addition, I offer specialist modules in the Sociology of Health, Sociology of Mental Health, and I designed a volunteering module where students can apply sociology in practice. In addition, I contribute to our taught Masters programmes and supervise Masters by Research and PhD students. I am currently overseeing 14 PhD students within the University.

I am delighted to be able to contribute to the medical sociology delivery at Kent and Medway Medical School. I have published research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2011, my team and I were awarded the BSA/C-Sap National Award for Excellence in Teaching Sociology. I have also secured a CCCU award for teaching excellence.

During my time at Canterbury Christ Church, I have consolidated my interest in the Sociology of Health and Illness and specifically the sociologies of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) and Mental Health.

I also have extended my research interests to include the study of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, the status and promise of Sociology, and Community Regeneration. I initiated a 'Community Partnerships Project' at the University, designed to foster reciprocal relationships with local charity and third sector organisations and, along with my students and colleagues, have undertaken a number of research projects.

One particular project, commissioned by Thanet District Council, involved an evaluation of team working to deliver community services and this led to an exciting collaboration with the London School of Economics working on a Leverhulme/Rockefeller funded project on community resilience.

My research in complementary and alternative medicine has resulted in conference presentations at many national and international conferences. During the House of Lords review of CAM, I contributed to working group discussions and I have acted as an Advisor to the Open University on a Welcome Foundation research project and for their undergraduate degree.

My recent work within the Sociology of Teaching and Learning within Higher Education has also been widely disseminated at conferences and our Programme hosted a Higher Education Academy Seminar.

I have extensive experience of External Examining, PhD examination and I have acted as an External Assessor for validation work at other Universities.

Some recent conference presentations include

• Cant, S. (2016) ‘Medical Pluralism: Mainstream Marginality or Subaltern Medicine? Examining the Integration of Asian Medicines and Biomedicine in the UK, Global Capital and Social Difference, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 6/7^th October 2016
• Cant, S. and Watts, P. (2013) “Precarious professionalism: attempts by nurses and midwives to position themselves as competent practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine in the UK National Health Service”. In: ISA RC52 (Sociology of Professional Groups) Interim Conference on Challenging Professionalism: New Directions in Policies, Publics and the Professions, School of Economics and Management (ISEG), Lisbon
• Cant, S. (2011) Empowerment and marginality. In: UK-Israel Workshop, Bnai Zion Medical Center, February 2011, Haifa, Israel . (Unpublished)
• Cant, S. (2011) The knowledgeable doer: nurse and midwife integration of complementary and alternative medicine in NHS hospitals. In: Wellcome Trust Conference: Regulation and Professionalisation in Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Concerns, May 2011, University of Birmingham (forthcoming as a chapter)
• Cant, S. and Watts, P. (2010) Pure and dangerous: complementary and alternative medicine, risk and governmentality. In: British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Group Annual Conference, 1 - 3 September 2010, Durham University.
• Cant, S. and Watts, P. (2009) Familiarity breeds contentment: Enabling student transitions into HE through taking a holistic approach approach to level IV delivery. In: Higher Education Academy Seminar Series, Oct 2009, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, Kent, UK.