Doing a PhD in Education, with Emmanuel Johnson

This week I had the chance to speak with Emmanuel Johnson, who is currently studying for a PhD in Education at Coventry University. During this episode, we focus a lot on Emmanuel’s experience of being a Nigerian student in the UK, and how he distinguishes between his identity as an African man and as a black man. We discuss feelings of otherness, the need to perform, and the adaptations international students feel like they may have to make in order to fit with Western standards. We also discuss Emmanuel’s research, which is ethnographic, and the format of his thesis, which will incorporate a film.

Guest bio

Emmanuel is a filmmaker, writer and third-year doctoral student at Coventry University, researching on Nigerian student experience in the UK. He is the co-host of the 9JA Which Way Podcast, a community of Nigerians in diaspora passionate about Nigerian nation-building. Emmanuel is an Abuja-born and Uyo-raised Nigerian who arrived in the UK in 2012 for university-foundation study. Since then, he has explored and developed personal interests of his to find answers to his most pressing questions. This exploration led him to filmmaking, which he uses to produce documentaries, such as Parallel Identity and To Grow a Tree. As part of his PhD, he is currently working on a documentary which explores the experiences of Nigerian students, negotiating identity and belonging in the UK. You can keep up to date with his work via Twitter (@mannyjayking) and his website (johnsonee.com).

Host bio

Nina Higson-Sweeney is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. Her PhD is funded by the ESRC through the South West Doctoral Training Partnership, and she is using mixed methods to explore the symptom of fatigue within adolescent depression. Prior to her PhD, Nina completed a BSc in Psychology and a MSc Health Psychology at the University of the West of England. Nina has contributed to several peer-reviewed journal articles throughout her degrees, exploring topics such as depression, CFS/ME, HIV, and loneliness and mental health in children and young people. You can follow her on Twitter (@n_higsonsweeney) and ResearchGate.

Credits

Funding for this podcast is provided by the South West Doctoral Training Partnership (@_SWDTP on Twitter).

Cover art is by the talented Hannah Balogun (@hannah_balogun on Instagram).

Intro music is ‘I Was Messed Up (Instrumental Version)’ by Ella Faye, from Epidemic Sound.

Outro music is ‘Stereo (Instrumental Version)’ by Ella Faye, from Epidemic Sound.

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