William Day

I joined Aston University in 2016 for the newly created position within Psychology of Graduate Teaching Assistant. I support the delivery and assessment of taught materials across the Psychology programmes. Alongside these responsibilities I am completing my PhD, part-time with an expected submission date of December 2022. I am supervised by Dr Rachel Shaw and Dr Dan Shepperd (associate). 

My current research seeks to understand individuals’ experiences of living with chronic invisible or 'unseen' illnesses within the wider context of austerity-informed UK welfare reforms. My work takes a 'pluralistic' approach; that is combining phenomenological and discursive approaches to consider both the micro and macro implications of government policies, from a health/social psychology perspective. I make use of multiple modalities of data (interviews, images, film, news media, policy documents etc.), as I look to explore the holistic ways in which belonging, heath, stigma and wellbeing are constructed and experienced by individuals.

• Postgraduate Certificate in Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (PGCert). Aston University. Awarded with distinction; 2018.

• MSc. in Health Psychology. Aston University. Awarded with distinction; 2016.

• Graduate Diploma in Psychology. Aston University. Awarded with merit; 2015.

• BA (Hons) Psychology & Philosophy. Heythrop College, University of London; 2010. 

• Graduate Teaching Assistant in Psychology, School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University. October 2016 to present.

• Prior to this position, I worked for 5 years within the private sector. Most recently auditing the administration of welfare reforms. 

• Living with chronic and invisible illness.

• Phenomenological understandings of illness and how the incorporation of Husserlian lifeworld concepts can assist a 'deeper' understanding.

• Discourses around modern welfare and benefit reforms (Employment and Support Allowance [ESA], Personal Independence Payment [PIP], Universal Credit [UC]).

• Innovative approaches to qualitative data collection, such as utilising longitudinal approaches, photo elicitation and lived experience descriptions.

• The epistemological challenges of combining core qualitative approaches, such as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Foucauldian Discourse Analysis and Critical Narrative Analysis.

• Individuals’ experiences of nostalgia and hauntology. 

• MBPsS: Graduate Member of the British Psychology Society.
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).