The Team
Dr Alice Cree
Alice is our project lead. She is a NUAcT Fellow in Geography at Newcastle University, with particular expertise in critical military studies, feminist geopolitics, and creative methods. Her work has been published in international academic journals such as 'International Political Sociology', 'Gender, Place & Culture' and 'Journal of War & Culture Studies'. She is also the editor of a new book coming out later this year with Rowman & Littlefield, titled 'Creative Methods in Military Studies'. The Conflict & Intimacy project is a labour of love for Alice, who was first inspired by the powerful stories of military partners during her doctoral research back in 2016. She hopes that 'Magnolia Walls', and the wider research that informs it, will help change societal understanding of what it really means to be 'married to the military’.
Dr Hannah West
Hannah is a Research Associate in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newcastle University. Her research explores how we know war and is committed to challenging mainstream narratives and seeking out marginalised voices to question military power. Her PhD has looked at how frontline combat is understood in British counterinsurgency campaigns of the last seventy years. A former Naval air engineer and military partner, Hannah has used collaborative creative methods to reflect on her own military service through film, poetry and music.
The research team, based at Newcastle University, consists of Dr Alice Cree as Principal Investigator and Dr Hannah West as Research Associate. We work in collaboration with Workie Ticket Theatre CIC, a North-East based feminist theatre organisation led by JoJo Kirtley.
JoJo Kirtley
A writer, producer, facilitator and founder of Workie Ticket Theatre Company, JoJo has been working for over a decade to create real social impact through theatre. Her work has been performed at The Lowry, Contact Theatre, The Exchange, (North Shields), Live Theatre and the 24:7 Theatre Festival. She is passionate about developing work within local communities to create a platform and raise awareness of issues that affect women in the North East region.