Dr Bethan Michael-Fox

Professional biography

My BA and MA are in English Literature from Cardiff University, and my interdisciplinary Ph.D was awarded by the University of Winchester.

I am particularly interested in late 20th and early 21st century writing and in the role literature, writing and culture play in how people negotiate their lived experience. 

My expertise are in social, cultural and literary theory, with a particular focus on postmodernism and poststructuralism. My interdisciplinary thesis was situated as a contribution to the academic field of Death Studies and examined the negotiation of death in the work of Julian Barnes, Jenny Diski and Will Self, as well as in a range of televisual texts, theory, visual and cultural examples.

I am co-host of the successful academic podcast The Death Studies Podcast.

Prior to joining the Open University, I worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire in the School of Education and English, where I taught and co-ordinated modules and courses, ran a Faculty wide peer assisted learning programme and was a member of several university committees and groups.

At the Open University I manage and teach on several modules across different faculties.

I am Lead Cluster Manager for A233 Telling Stories: The Novel and Beyond. I also manage a groups on A215 Creative Writing. I previously worked on A230 Reading and Studying Literature, before the module came to the end of its lifecycle.

I teach on A112: Culture and YXM130: Making your Learning Count (an inter and multidisciplinary reflective learning module). I have previously taught on A233 Telling Stories: The Novel and Beyond; L101 English Language Studies; Y031 Access Arts and Humanities and A105: Voices, Texts and Material Culture.

I am a member of the Open Thanatology and Film and Media and Research Groups. 

I also work as the Managing Editor for Taylor and Francis academic journal Mortality, which promotes the interdisciplinary study of death and dying.

I am a general council member of the Association for the Study of Death and Society.

From 2020-2025, in a voluntary capacity, I ran the social media for the academic journal Revenant: Critical and Creative Studies of the Supernatural, for which I have also edited a Special Issue entitled Death and the Screen. In 2025 I joined the journal's Editorial Board.

Research interests

My research is focused on popular cultural representations and on the intersections of representation (in writing, on screen and in audio) and lived experience.

I tend to ground my research in literature from the field of Death Studies and in postmodernist and poststructuralist theory, though I am also interested in sociological understandings and cultural sociology. I enjoy collaborative research, engaging with different frameworks and methodologies and exploring how interdisciplinary approaches can advance understandings.

As an active member of the University of Bath's Centre for Death and Society initiative  'CDAS Writes' I explore the intersections between academic, personal and creative writing about death and loss. For me, writing is an important way to process my feelings, and I have published short fiction and been shortlisted in poetry competitions. You can find out more about my current academic, creative and professional writing at www.drbethanmichaelfox.com

My current research interests are in two main areas. First, the representation of death and the dead in writing, on screen and in audio – I have published and edited on mortality and its complexities in literature, film, television, and podcasts. Second, the representation of students and universities on screen. You can find out more about this project at www.studentsonscreen.com 

My doctoral thesis focused on the ways death and the dead are negotiated in what I term 'late postmodern' culture. My thesis argued for the importance of interdisciplinarity and humanities approaches within the field of Death Studies and emphasised the existence of a pervasive concern with death and legacies of loss in contemporary culture despite death's continued positioning as something that is 'denied'.

My MA dissertation focused on the negotiation of national identity in post-devolution Welsh writing in English – a topic close to my heart as I am originally from Cymru/Wales. I am a rusty Cymraeg/Welsh speaker and aspiring Kernewek/Cornish speaker now that I live in Kernow/Cornwall. 

Teaching interests

For the Open University, I currently teach A112 Cultures and YXM130 Making your Learning Count (an inter and multidisciplinary reflective learning module). I have previously taught on A233 Telling Stories: The Novel and Beyond, A105: Voices, Texts and Material Culture, L101 English Language Studies, and Y031 Access Arts and Humanities. I have worked as a manager on A215 Creative Writing and A230 Reading and Studying Literature, as well as being the lead manager for A233 Telling Stories: The Novel and Beyond.

At the University of Bedfordshire, I was module lead for, wrote and taught: Documentary Dissertation; Youth Culture; Children, Young People and the Digital Age; Key Concepts (a module combining study skills with concepts and theory) and English Knowledge and Understanding, an English language and literature module for in-service teaching assistants completing degrees that covered English grammar, the conventions of Standard English, prose, drama and poetry. I was course leader for the BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies and Faculty Co-ordinator for Peer Assisted Learning in the Faculty of Education and Sport.

Impact and engagement

At the Open University I have led on the development of the School of Arts and Humanities Skills Workshops and Peer Assisted Learning initiatives.

I am co-host of The Death Studies Podcast, a popular academic podcast sharing research, practice and knowledge in the field of Death Studies. Find out more at www.thedeathstudiespodcast.com 

External collaborations

Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)

Steering Group Member, the Death and Culture Network (DaCNet), University of York (2024-present)

Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bath's Centre for Death and Society (2020-2026)

Early Career Research Fellow at the Culture-Media-Text Research Centre in the University of Winchester's Faculty of Arts (2020-2022)

Managing Editor for Taylor and Francis academic journal Mortality, which promotes the interdisciplinary study of death and dying

Council member for the Association for the Study of Death and Society (2019-present)

Social media manager and guest editor for the open access journal Revenant: Critical and Creative Studies of the Supernatural (2020-2025)

External Examiner (2025-2029) PARTNERS Access Programme, Newcastle University

External Examiner BA Professional and Creative Writing, University of Hull (2021-2024) and TEC Partnership (2022-2026)

External Examiner Foundation Certificate in Arts and Humanities Glasgow International College (2022-2026)

Centre Lead Moderator, Diploma Moderator, QAA Project Lead and Module Author for AIM Awards (Access to HE Diploma Provider) (2012-2018)