The Centre for Culture, Sport and Events is part of the wider University of the West of Scotland research community, Many staff and PhD students from the School of Business and Creative Industries undertake research which is relevant to the Centre’s themes.
PhD students
Callum McCloskey
Callum McCloskey is a final year PhD student, supervised by Professor David McGillivray, Professor Gayle McPherson and Dr Adam Talbot. His doctoral research investigates how human rights commitments made in the bid for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup (FWC) have been embedded in planning and delivery processes, with a focus on stakeholder engagement, institutional governance, and reform. He has contributed to several CCSE- linked projects, including Sports for the Planet and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026 Legacy Network, supporting research coordination, stakeholder engagement, and policy development. Recent outputs, co- authored with CCSE colleagues, include an article in The Conversation on the human rights of football fans at UEFA Euro 2024 and a forthcoming publication on the governance of human rights in a Soccer & Society special issue on the 2026 FWC.
Naheed Akhtar
Naheed Akhtar is a final year PhD student, supervised by Professor David McGillivray. Her doctoral research explores the impact of digital media on shaping political communication in Pakistan. With a background in journalism and media, Naheed brings a deep understanding of social issues and strong skills of communication with a wider range of people from different professions and backgrounds. Naheed has contributed to two CCSE research projects, utilising her communication and academic skills; FestivalConnect, working with Professor David McGillivray and Professor Gayle McPherson and The Role of Regenerative Tourism in Fostering a Sustainable for Small Heritage Sites in Post-Industrial Towns, led by Dr Masood Khodadadi. She has also co-authored a research publication about strategic messaging in events with Professor David McGillivray.
Stephen Mills
Stephen Mills is a second year PhD student, supervised by Dr Adam Talbot. He has returned to the world of academia after over a decade out of the classroom, having previously worked as a General Manager with over 25 years’ experience working in the Sports, Health & Fitness industry. He has a passion for coaching and developing people and learning new skills and he is excitedly embarking on a new set of challenges whilst completing his research project. His PhD focuses on Olympic Games bidding reform and its effect on legacy. He has presented his work at two conferences and has co-authored a book chapter publication for Routledge.
Rui Jin
Rui Jin is a second-year student, supervised by Professor David McGillivray and Dr Jenny Flinn. Her doctoral research explores environmental sustainability in the context of Olympic education. With a background in education, Rui brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to her work. She recently presented her research at the UWS Research Festival and serves as a Postgraduate Research (PGR) Senate representative, advocating for the voices of PGR students at university level. She is also involved in the ‘Energy Saving for All’ project, reflecting her broader commitment to sustainability and community engagement.
Marlene Zijlstra
Marlene Zijlstra is a final year PhD student, supervised by Dr Rachael Flynn, Professor David McGillivray and Professor Graham Jeffery. Her PhD explores community-led urban regeneration in post-industrial Paisley, Scotland, through Hidden Spaces Paisley—a collaborative creative project she designed and led. Using creative, participatory methods, the research examines how residents respond to spatial decay and cultural reuse. Marlene contributes to the work of the CCSE through blog content development and knowledge exchange, and co- authored Co-production in Arts & Culture: A Review of Evidence for Renfrewshire Council. She is also an active member of the SGSAH Doctoral Researcher Committee.
Norman Duncan
Norman Duncan is a final year PhD student, supervised by Professor Sandro Carnicelli and researching urban tourism through a commons framework. He completed his undergraduate degree in Accounting and Finance (BAcc) at the University of the West of Scotland and his masters in Climate Change: Environment, Science, and Policy (MSc) at King’s College London. He’s had an eclectic career begging in the bike-messenger industry, then moving into fashion, and eventually green finance. These experiences coalesce to inform his current research using bike-messengers as a case-study for urban tourism, situating urban space within the context of finance capital.
CCSE Associate Members
Dr Angela Beggan
Angela Beggan is senior lecturer and learning & teaching lead for the Division of Sport, Exercise, and Health at the University of the West of Scotland where she lectures in Physical Activity and Health. Angela entered academia from a career in clinical/commercial health and fitness that spanned the US and UK. Her academic interests combine practice-based experience with research skills in co-production, human-centred design, and postqualitative inquiry. She has employed these skills in collaboration with a range of stakeholders including NHS Lanarkshire, the Scottish Early Years Collaborative, and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Trust to develop the theory and practice of physical activity intervention, particularly for older adults and families. Her current research focuses on UN Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5 with the funded studentship project, Transforming the Transition to Retirement, exploring ways to extend the healthy life years of older women by working with women to design fulfilling retirement transitions.
Professor Katarzyna Kosmala
Professor Katarzyna Kosmala holds a Chair in Culture, Media and Visual Arts at the University of the West of Scotland. She is also a curator, and art writer. Previously, Visiting Research Fellow at GEXcel, Institute of Thematic Gender Studies, Linköping University & Örebro University, Sweden and Visiting Professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since 2012 she has led the Interdisciplinary Research Network Regeneration and Waterfront Heritage Zones in Northern Europe. Her area of expertise includes participatory approaches to regeneration; heritage, communities and marginalization; intangible culture and representation, heritage and gender. Also researches and publishes on construction and representation of gender and identity in contemporary (visual) culture including video and new media arts, artists and meaning of work, creativity and enterprise in the context of cultural globalisation; art production; arts-run projects; art criticism; politics of representation.
Dr Elizabeth Gardiner
Trading as Cultural Planning Practice, Liz Gardiner is an artist, teacher and freelance consultant specialising in cultural planning. As a Doctoral Researcher and Associate of the CCSE with the University of the West of Scotland, she teaches and researches in cultural planning. As executive director of Fablevision, she develops and delivers case study examples of cultural planning in practice – often in partnership with other third sector organisations, community development trusts or local authorities.
As co-chair of Creative Renfrewshire, Liz has been instrumental in the setting up of cultural networks in Renfrewshire as well as national and international networks like the Artist and Communities Association for Scotland, Scotland in Europe and the European River Cities Network. Always participatory and rooted in creation, action and activism, Liz’s PhD research with UWS focused on possibilities and limitations of artistic interventionism on the future planning of Post Industrial Waterfront Heritage Zones in Europe. Conducted in collaboration with various local artists/organisations, national and UK wide projects as well as the pan European River Cities Network, her current research practice is collaborative, artist led, and (determinedly post Brexit) in partnership with cultural organisations European Cities.
Dr Greis Cifuentes
Dr Greis Cifuentes hails from in Ibagué, Colombia. She earned her Ph.D. from UWS. In addition, Greis has a Master’s in Cooperation International and Development from the University of Montpellier, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Government and International Relations from Universidad Externado de Colombia. Her research has focused on the role of culture and the arts in peace-building contexts. She has also been instrumental in the creation of a Master’s program in Management of Cultural and Creative Industries at the University of Ibagué.
Professionally, Greis has held various prestigious institutions such as the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, the Fulbright Commission in Colombia and Germany, the Delegation of the European Union in Colombia, and the Consulate of Colombia in New York. She has also served as the Secretary of Culture for Ibagué and as an advisor to the University of Ibagué and the Government of Tolima. Currently, she holds the position of Manager of Batuta in Bogotá, as part of her role at the National Foundation Batuta, where she previously served as the Development Manager. In 2022, her impactful work earned her a spot as one of the 30 most influential young individuals in Colombian politics.
Dr Carlton Brick
Dr Carlton Brick joined UWS in 2003 as a lecturer in sociology. Before becoming a full time academic he has had a varied and wide-ranging employment history, including amongst others, book restorer, and sports journalist. Prior to joining UWS he was Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Social & Cultural Studies of Sport & Leisure, at the University of Surrey Roehampton, where he completed his PhD in 2002. His particular areas of academic expertise and interest are drawn from fields of sociology of leisure, fan cultures, identity and consumption, and social theory. His work has appeared in a variety of publications including Spiked, Four Four Two, Living Marxism, and a wide range of scholarly journals and publications. He was a founding member of Libero, the civil rights campaign for football supporters, and was editor of the fanzine Offence until 2000.
His current research is driven by an interest in the relationships between culture, society, and the individual, with particularly focus on the intersections of identity, memory and place. In the recent period his main focus has been on the role of cultural memory in the (de) politicisation of urban spaces – an increasingly prominent, but not unproblematic narrative within regeneration policies as urban spaces seek to reposition themselves within increasingly post-industrial service led globalised economies.