Staff Profile

Prof Farini’s expertise in social research is a resource for his teaching. He has taught Research Methods on modules across all undergraduate and postgraduate levels while supervising undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD dissertation projects. Prof Farini has rich experience in teaching research methods to students who are not (yet) familiar with the epistemology of social sciences.

His leadership in teaching has been recognised by his appointment as member of the QAA panel for the revision of Sociology Subject Benchmark Statement 2026-2032, and  convenor of the Working Group “Internationalisation”.

Prof Farini has taught nearly 60 modules across all undergraduate and postgraduate levels in English HE institutions, from level 3 to level 8, taking responsibility as co-leader or leader for most of them. He has developed several new modules and has been involved in the re-validation of BA and MA programmes. In 2019, he led the design and validation of the MSc Public Sociology, the only Public Sociology program offered by English HEIs. Prof Farini’s profile as a professional educator is further reinforced by his experiences as an external examiner for BA programs at University of Plymouth, Manchester Metropolitan University, St. Mark and St. John University in Plymouth, and Sheffield Hallam University, as well as external examiner for MA programs at St. Mark and St. John University in Plymouth and Liverpool John Moores University.

Prof Farini’s contribution to the research capacity of his institutions also includes supervision of doctoral students, following Director of Studies Training at Middlesex University, and recognition of qualification as a Primary Ph.D. supervisor granted by Essex University,  University of East Anglia and the University of Suffolk.

For more than 20 years, several successful research bids have made it possible for Prof Farini to apply knowledge and skills to empirical investigations. He has been researching professionally through national and international projects in the fields of Sociology of Intercultural Communication, Cultural Sociology, Globalization Theories, Social Theory, Communication Studies, Sociology of Education, Youth and Childhood studies, Policy evaluation, and the sociolinguistic analysis of interaction. Other areas of expertise are Equality and Social Justice in access to education and healthcare, Sociology of Conflict, and Peace Studies.

Prof Farini takes pride in the commitment to a positive impact on communities that characterises his research and teaching. Since 2003, he has been researching anddeveloping data-driven training  opportunities through projects supported by European and national Agencies, Regional and Local Authorities. Prof Farini’s funded projects deliver research in areas such as: the inclusion of migrant children and young people in education, youth subcultures, and cultural studies, migrant-friendly services, conflict management, intercultural education, client-centered interpreting in healthcare and education, the role of digital media in the diffusion of knowledge. Prof Farini has authored research bids for an estimated amount of £530,000 directly attributable to him. The most recent successful bids consist of three EU-funded research projects. The first project is ‘Children Hybrid Integration: Learning Dialogue as a way of Upgrading Policies of Participation’ (Child-UP, Horizon2020,  MIGRATION-05-2018). Child-UP is a complex project including a review of national integration policies and legislation across all partner countries; a survey of migrant children and their parents to gauge their experiences of schools, interviews with parents and teachers about how they perceive the education relationships; evaluation of educational practices in the context of programs to support migrant children’s integration in schools.

The second project, SPACEX (led by Prof Andrew Hewitt) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie action to transform urban space in places of democratic participation through public art and sees the participation of 27 partners in 9 EU countries and 1 Third Country, Palestine.

The third project, ‘Shared Memories for Dialogues’ (SHARMED, Erasmus+ KA3) aims to promote the inclusion of migrant-background children in the classroom, linking to both intercultural education and the use of digital technology. Using visual material and digital technologies, SHARMED encourages children to work on their personal and cultural memories, promoting children’s participation in telling and negotiating stories.

In 2020 the volume edited with Angela Scollan (Middlesex University), ‘Self-determination of children in Early Childhood Education and Services’, published by Springer Nature, was recognised as a top publication committed to promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, ‘quality education’ with more than 17,000 (July 2025).

Earlier in his career, Prof Farini was the principal investigator and advisor for an EU-funded project under the program ‘Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, 2007-2013’. The Project, ‘Local Forums for Participatory Democracy’,  offered the opportunity to research the impact of digital media on social participation and in the dissemination of knowledge(s) among children and adolescents.

Since 2014, Prof Farini has served as a research grants reviewer and assessor  for UKRI, BA, Leverhulme, UNESCO, the European Commission, the Swiss Federal Government, the Indian Government, and the Italian Government.

Prof Farini leads the Centre for Psychology and Sociological Sciences at the University of Northampton. Prof Farini  had a leadership role in planning and managing the Centre for Educational Research and Scholarship (CERS) at Middlesex University, leading the Special Interest Group Network ‘Childhood and Society’ for two years, optimising resources and expertise while securing the active involvement of academics, professionals, students, and stakeholders. Internationally, Prof Farini is a founding  member of European Research Networks such as  Trust Dynamics in the governance of children and youth (Roskilde University, Denmark) and Laboratory for the Analysis of Interaction and Mediation (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy). In 2014 he was elected as vice-president of the International Sociological Association Research Committee 25, ‘Language in Society’, taking the role of editor for the  journal, ‘Language, Discourse and Society’. Some of his scholarly memberships include the British Educational Research Association, British Sociological Association, European Sociological Association, International Association of Dialogue Analysis, International Pragmatics Association, and Society of Science and Technology Studies.

Prof Farini is a Visiting Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where he is also a member of the PhD School. He is Visiting Academic at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, where he contributes to the Ph.D. program in Peace Studies.  He collaborates with the International  Post-Doc programs at the University of Venice ‘Ca’ Foscari’.

For the  REF2021 exercise, Prof Farini coordinated the Unit of Assessment 21, Sociology, at the University of Northampton. Previously he contributed to the delivery of REF2014 Unit of Assessment 36, ‘Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management’ for Middlesex University.

Prof Farini has published over 100 peer-reviewed books chapters, articles and edited books in Italian, English, Spanish, Crotian and Slovenian language, presenting his research at numerous international conference. For publications, projects, datasets, research interests and activities, view Federico Farini’s research profile on Pure, the University of Northampton’s Research Explorer.