@heathermsutherland.bsky.social
Lecturer in UKHE (North East). Interdisciplinary. Qualitative. Lost my brother to suicide and that matters in all I do. Research: Mental Health in HigherEd settings; Sibling Suicide Loss. Lived(ing) Experience. Mum 👧🏻👼🏻 🐶. 🇬🇧 🇲🇽 https://sibsas.blogspot.com/
'Teaching-only staff at Sheffield Hallam University are set to be moved into a subsidiary firm, leaving research intensive scholars the only academics still being employed directly by the institution.'
Utterly inequitable & betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the teaching/research nexus. 1/3
Fascinating tbh. “What about the people who choose not to share online? …This article seeks to explore this under-researched phenomenon. Much like ‘non-use’, unshareability and non-sharing are crucial parts of contemporary digital culture.” journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #AcademicSky #Grief
A few years late to the party by THE.....
UK university staff: complete our survey about redundancies share.google/bBpNQ2FrWsNe...
Today my Dad is 70. He is most awesome.
How do you know semester 2 commuting and teaching is due to commence the following day in our house? This be how #FuelMade #AcademicSky
❤️
5/5…has also proved the right time to have finally submitted an application for ethical approval for a project entitled: ‘’Survivor’ or ‘Wayfinder’? An Autoethnographic Interrogation of an Identity-term After and Across Adult-Sibling Suicide Loss”. Onward! #AcademicSky #SuicideLoss
4/5…within it and in all manner of ways. Academia is a complex way of life …. but, especially given how much I am valuing the experiences and interactions in my current role, I retain some hope it will afford me continuing time…. at least, it feels appropriate that this marker moment… #AcademicSky
3/5…depths, the jugglings, exchanges, emotions, efforts, performances, stories, good and bad, that together amount to the learning gained and impacts endured through those seen things. The Higher Education sector is some beast indeed to wrestle with, as an individual… #AcademicSky
2/5…worked in research, teaching, student support and more admin-focused capacities across 8 universities. I am still referred to as ‘early career’ whilst simultaneously not being so, because of the ‘wiggly route’ I have followed. The CV lists the visible but never reveals the hidden… #AcademicSky
1/5.I find myself in a reflective mood. This weekend sees the second anniversary of my joining York St John University in my first lectureship … it also marks the start of the final month of 22 years of ‘experiencing’ Higher Education contexts (since starting my first PhD). I have… #AcademicSky
Today’s been a really difficult (awful) day, and I wish my brother was here. That’s it.
Not even 7.30am and statements from near-teen of the house include:
“Why do you old people write such long paragraphs?” (Comment on my writing of a WhatsApp message…)
And:
“Shhhh I can’t spell while you’re speaking!”
Fun day ahead for teachers then!
🌟 CALLING UK UNDERGRAD STUDENTS 🌟
We are recruiting uni students for an interview study about self-diagnosis and peer-diagnosis
It will be an online interview lasting around 45 minutes and you will receive a voucher as a thank you
To find out more or express your interest:
tinyurl.com/492d4h92
First dance class of 2026 felt gooood!!
New Year’s Eve 2025 - Happy New Year 2026!
(Lines from) ‘The Peace of Wild Things’
By
Wendell Berry
“When despair for the world grows in me
…
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.
… For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”
“Bow-wow down all for I am now the age of 4” 👑🎂🐶❤️
It’s quite a belated present to learn a personally-significant piece was published on Christmas Day!
Sutherland, H. A. (2025). “And this is where my mind is”: space, place, and “student mental health and wellbeing” (SMHWB) in the UK. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1–39. doi.org/10.1080/1478...
It’s quite a belated present to learn a personally-significant piece was published on Christmas Day!
Sutherland, H. A. (2025). “And this is where my mind is”: space, place, and “student mental health and wellbeing” (SMHWB) in the UK. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1–39. doi.org/10.1080/1478...
And Christmas doth commence, with a little visit to the Twice Brewed Inn (#SycamoreGap) ❤️🌳
Article proof returned to publisher; teaching and term’s end; lovely student feedback and gifts of handmade earrings; Christmas atmosphere and smells; lush food and company….
Hasta 2026, York!
Out of office is well and truly ON! 🎉🎄🍾 #AcademicSky
Oh but it is early… Final 9am of 2025 ahead… #AcademicSky
My brother has been gone 14 years today. It’s unreal to me that he’s been gone for just over half as long as he lived. I’m going to be spending some time reflecting on how I think and feel about that.… Yesterday I marked the day by getting a sycamore friend for my gheko ❤️ #StoriesOnSkin #SuicideLoss
A special and very Good Boy came into class today.
He can come cover any of my lectures anytime he likes, to be honest…!
It was such a calm and smiley atmosphere ❤️🐶 #AcademicSky
Very much looking forward to spending the day learning about Autoethnography. Yay for Research Leave! ✍️📝
Feel uncomfortable with the emphasis in the statement: “We must look at this through a strictly clinical lens ... That's the only way we can ensure everyone gets timely access to accurate diagnosis and effective support."
A sociological lens should also be involved … www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Publications can have personal meaning beyond others’ rhetorics. It is quite something to receive the words “Our referees have considered your paper and have recommended publication” 13-days prior to the anniversary of your brother’s suicide - the reason you ended up writing the piece… #AcademicSky
Bought myself a cosy blanket for winter times…it already seems to not be mine…cheeky perrito 🐶
When you start the day with 693 words to cut to meet the 8000-word limit and end it like this….🎉🎉🎉🎉Submission imminent!!!
Now to begin Round One of the Marking Season….ready the snack-fuel🍪🍪🍪🍪
