Ms Gabi Kent

I am a Senior Lecturer in Knowledge Exchange in the School of Social Sciences and Global Studies (SSGS) and  Knowledge Exchange lead on the Open University (OU) in Ireland Time to Think oral history project and archive. (The Time to Think archive documents OU study in British and Irish prisons during the years of conflict in and about Northern Ireland.)

From 2015 to 2019 I was a Lecturer in Social Policy and Criminology in SSGS. Prior to this I worked part time with the Open University on the ESRC funded Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK (PSE UK) project www.poverty.ac.uk. As community engagement lead I ran an 18-month  collaboration between The Open University, Queens University, Community Foundation for Northern Ireland and marginalised communities in Northern Ireland to document the impact and harms of UK austerity policy, using community action research and digital stoytelling methods. 

My professional background is as a consultant, multi-media producer and academic researcher working on projects in the field of human rights, peacebuilding and social change. I have an MSc in Human Rights from LSE  specialising in transitional justice in the aftermath of violent conflict and did my thesis on a regional grassroots justice process in the Balkans.  I have worked as a freelance consultant with the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)  in Geneva, on peacebuilding issues and long-term policy solutions for those who are forcibly displaced by conflict. As a media producer/director for over 15 years, I have also made numerous broadcast documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery as well as educational and advocacy films for NGOs and human rights organization such as  The Elders and the Anti Trafficking Alliance. I continue to maintain my expertise in and passion for film making and storytelling, on both academic and non academic projects.