Dr Alison Penn

Professional biography

Background

I am an Honorary Associate in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) having retired as a Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor  in Social Policy and Criminology.   I was the FASS Media Fellow from 2017-2023 and worked with Broadcasts & Partnerships and Open Learn to develop media projects and open educational resources.

I was a tutor in from 1994 to 2021 in Social Policy, Criminology, Social Sciences and Sociology.

A founder member and former Chair of the Voluntary Action History Society which runs a seminar programme at the Institute of Historical Research and also triennial international conference

Previously a Trustee for Impetus, Brighton and Hove

Former Research Fellow at the Health and Social Policy Research Centre, the University of Brighton and Research Consultant, Sussex Consultancy Services.  These roles entailed the design and management of research; the presentation of complex and disparate information in a co-ordinated and succinct format; and the development of evaluative frameworks. 

Research interests

These stem in the main from my PhD on the social history of voluntary organisations as well as from my background working in the voluntary and community sectors, as a paid manager, campaigner and trustee over 20+ years and as a professional trainer in Charity Evaluation and a Charity Assessor for The King’s Fund 1997-2017.

·         the social history of voluntary action (both philanthropy and mutual aid), primarily in Britain in the 19^th and 20^th centuries

·         the role of women as social investigators in Britain in the early 20^th century

·         archival research into voluntary action for unmarried mothers

·         voluntary organisations and associational democracy

·         the use of evaluation in voluntary organisations.

Member of Women’s History Network, the Social History Society and the Voluntary Action History Society