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Staff Profiles

Dr Helen Casey

PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer Above the Bar
E: helen.casey@nuigalway.ie

Biography

Helen has worked in Higher Education within NUI Galway designing, teaching and assessing flexible and blended learning educational initiatives for part-time learners for 20+ years. Helen completed her MA in Community Development in 1997 which marked the commencement of her professional journey in Higher Education promoting and supporting under-represented learners to access and succeed in University. Helen's doctoral study focused on graduates personal and professional transformative learning impacts. It was undertaken under the stewardship of UNESCO Professor Pat Dolan in 2018 following six years of part-time study while working full time. Helen possesses a strong belief in advocating and championing equitable and fair educational entry and progression pathways for full and part-time learners in Higher Education.

Research Interests

Research Projects

Project	Start Date	End Date
Irish Aid Project in Kosovo	01-SEP-06	01-SEP-08
COMMUNITY EDUCATION BA PROGRAMME 06	28-FEB-06	31-DEC-13
Developing Digital Democracy	01-SEP-02	01-JUL-03

Honours and Awards

Year	Title	Awarding Body
2021	Aontas Star Societal Impact Award	AONTAS
2020	NUIG AURORAN	HE ADVANCE
2018	PhD in Political Science and Sociology	NUIGalway
1997	MA in Community Development	NUI

Teaching Interests

Models of Best Practice in Community Development; Andragogy and Impact; Reflective Practice in Community, Youth and Family Studies; Research Methodologies; Emotional Intelligence and Empathy Education; Effects of Social Stratification in Higher Education; Higher Education Participation and Retention Interventions; Higher Education Engagement Policies and Practices

Academic Director of the following School of Political Science and Sociology programmes:

BCYF:   Community, Youth & Family Studies (Part-time Degree)

Certificate/ Diploma:    Community Development Practice (Cert./Diploma)

Diploma: Diploma in Youth and Community Development Practice

Certificate:  Youth Work Practice (Certificate)

BYF:   Child, Youth and Family (Full-time Degree)

Current Postgraduate Students (Taught)

	Name	Degree	Primary Supervisor
	Aileen O Flaherty	MA in Family Support Studies	Y
	Siobhan Breslin	MA in Social Work	Y

Recent Postgraduate Students

	Graduation	Name	Degree	Primary Supervisor
	2007	Helena Browne	MASTERS DEGREE (LEVEL 9)	Y
	2019	Rachael McGovern	MA in Family Support Studies	Y

Modules Taught

Term/Year	Module Title	Module Code	Subject / Desc
2020-2021	Understanding Communities	SP127
2020-2021	Politics and Policy Making	SP136
2020-2021	Social Research Skills	SP1113
2020-2021	Research Proposal	SP2102	5 ects
2020-2021	Communities in Focus	SP242
2020-2021	Introduction to Learning	SP1105
2020-2021	Independent Research Project	SP162	15 ects module
2020-2021	Literature Review	SP1109

External Collaborators

	Name	Organisation / Institute	Country	Description of Collaboration
	Community Education Initiative	Galway Traveller Movement and Community Action Network	IRELAND
	Community Development Outreach Project	Rural Community Network Northern Ireland	IRELAND