Starting an academic career with the Future of Human Reproduction team

Our series continues with Dr Georgia Walton, Research Associate, University of Glasgow School of Critical Studies.

Joining the team

I joined the FoHR research project in September 2023 as Research Associate in English Literature. This was my first academic job, and I saw the role advertised whilst looking for employment after completing my PhD.

My PhD explored contemporary American literature's relationship with the 19th century American Renaissance, examining how contemporary literature looks back to historical moments of nation-building to think about present crises and possibilities.

During my doctoral studies, I completed a researcher employability project with Glasgow Women's Library examining environmental protest and children. This project looked at how motherhood has been used for political mobilisation, comparing movements like Greenham Common with the school strike movement. That project also engaged with science fiction, which became the most directly relevant work I'd done before joining FoHR.

The FoHR position offered an opportunity to develop ideas I'd started exploring in that employability project and in my PhD that hadn't been fully developed. I'd also been reading science fiction extensively, so the role allowed me to bring that interest into my academic work.

My research contributions

I was involved with the literary strand of the project, which meant suggesting texts for the team to read in meetings, preparing discussion questions, and leading those conversations. Quite early on, I had the idea to do a special issue – I wanted us to do it because I thought it would be a good way of bringing all the different disciplines together. I didn't really know how research projects work since it was my first academic job, and I don't think I ever read the proposal. In English, our main outputs are articles and monographs, so to me it just felt like a natural thing to do.

The special issue evolved as I realised how other disciplines worked – it was originally going to be more critical theory-focused, because of my background but we ended up leaning more into interdisciplinary conversations and doing this with BMJ Medical Humanities. We now have at least 5 articles that will hopefully be published together.

I organised the panels we did at the British Society for Literature and Science (BSLS) conference in 2024 and 2025. These were a foundation for the special issue, giving people ways to test out their ideas. I also worked with Dr Andy Darby on speculative design, contributing to the exhibitions the project created and participating in the design exercises in our sessions.

I've written two articles for the special issue “Reproductive technology’s animal unconscious: multispecies motherhood and humanimal horror” with Dr Dominic O’Key, who is at Cambridge working in literature. The other "The Carrier Bag Theory of Design Fiction and The Futures of Ectogenesis" written with Andy is currently in review.

Recently, I delivered a webinar with Dr Evie Kendal on her newly published book Science Fiction and the Ethics of Artificial Wombs, as well as one with Sharon entitled 'What's Literature Got to Do With It? How Literature Shapes Our Views of Reproductive Technology'. I also worked closely with Dr Anna McFarlane, one of the FoHR award holders, co-organising events such as the Reproductive and Speculative Cultures conference featuring external speakers and offering development opportunities for Phd students. Another highlight was co-organising an online Literature and the Future of Human Reproduction symposium which took place in autumn 2024.

Skills and confidence I developed

I've learned so many things through this project. Public engagement like webinars – I'd never done anything like that before, and I feel much more confident now. Event organisation, particularly conferences – obviously it's different at every institution, but being part of that process with Anna's conference and the symposium we did was really helpful experience.

I can now talk about and think through speculative design, which I didn't even know existed when I started. Working with other people on a research project was completely new – when you're doing a PhD, you're just on your own. So co-writing, presenting together, collaborative working – I definitely gained substantial experience in that.

I've also learned about more qualitative and quantitative methods through Dr Alexandra Krendel’s work – I'd never done anything like corpus linguistics before. We did policy training as well. Whilst policy engagement may not be my primary focus, understanding that context has been valuable.

Writing grant applications has been another area of development. I've worked on my own applications as well as contributing to larger team proposals. I'm really proud of the work I've put into this process.

Where I am now and what's next

I'm now a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow working on a Leverhulme research project called "A Mutual Fascination: British Horror and the Psy Disciplines, 1955 to the Present." At the moment, I'm getting to grips with that project and doing the research. We're writing an article due in Spring 2026, so it's quite a speedy turnaround.

On a personal level, I want to finish my book based on my PhD - "Contemporary American Literature: A New American Renaissance" - which I have a contract for with Edinburgh University Press.

Looking ahead, once the book is finished, I need to consider what I want to work on next. I'm most interested in reaching academic and fan audiences. My work seems to be moving toward genre fiction, and I'm increasingly drawn to engaging with science fiction and horror communities through online platforms and podcasts. I'm particularly interested in cultural engagement - exhibitions and film screenings.

Related Blogs

• 

  Meet FoHR's Early Career Researchers: Dr Alexandra Krendel

• 

  Exploring Tomorrow: Insights from Our Future of Human Reproduction Milestone Event

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.