New psychology lecturer to send out positive vibes about human virtues

Psychology students are set to learn more about human virtues from a leading expert in the field, as University of Northampton appoints a new member to the lecturing team.

Dr Liz Gulliford is the new Senior Lecturer in Positive Psychology and will be teaching modules that focus on human strengths.

Dr Gulliford gained her PhD in 2011 from Queen’s College, Cambridge, a critical evaluation of positive psychology, with a particular focus on forgiveness, gratitude, courage and hope.

Her research covers psychology, philosophy and education and her work has been published in a range of journals across academic disciplines.

Dr Gulliford joins Northampton from Birmingham University, where she worked as a Senior Research Fellow in the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues from 2012.

Prior to this Dr Gulliford, was based at the Psychology and Religion Research Group at the University of Cambridge, where she worked for eleven years.

She is passionate about communicating research in an accessible and engaging way and had two children’s books on gratitude and forgiveness published this summer. Two more, about hope and courage, will be published next spring.

“I’m fascinated by what makes a person ‘good’, but psychology can sometimes be guilty of giving a simplistic understanding of virtues like forgiveness and gratitude. These children’s books are designed to get young people thinking about what forgiveness, gratitude, hope and courage mean and when they might (and might not) be appropriate.

“I’m passionate about understanding and promoting human strengths and hope that Northampton students will benefit from learning about human strengths and the role they play in individual and collective wellbeing.

“The new Waterside campus also looks fantastic and will provide the perfect backdrop to what I’m sure will be a positive experience for all.”