Let's meet Dr. Lisa Morrison : From Detroit to Queen Mary

 

Simon:

Lisa, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your role at Queen Mary?

Lisa:

Sure! I’m a Senior Lecturer at the School of Business and Management, where I specialise in nonprofit management practice. I also serve as the Programme Director for our Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship in Business Management and Social Change. I completed my PhD here at Queen Mary, and I mostly teach work-based modules designed for apprenticeship programmes. I also teach on BUS001, one of the large foundation modules taken by joint students.

Simon:

What attracted you to Queen Mary?

Lisa:

What really drew me in was the ability to apply real-world practice to theoretical work. My PhD was centred around this idea. This is actually my second career-I spent nearly 20 years working in social work, community practice, youth counselling, and quality assurance. So I was keen to find an academic home that valued both practical experience and academic theory, and Queen Mary welcomed that mix.

Simon:

I understand you’ve done some work designing pedagogy for classroom modules. Can you tell us more?

Lisa:

Definitely. That’s one of my main areas of research and scholarship. I focus on developing innovative, practice-informed pedagogy that blends real-world experience with academic theory. I try to use technology to support diverse learning needs-things like MS Teams, Padlet, and Kahoot. I’m especially interested in fostering student-led and peer-to-peer learning and creating a classroom that’s more facilitative than lecture-heavy.

Simon:

What kinds of digital tools or platforms do you use in your teaching?

Lisa:

I make a lot of use of MS Teams because it's practical and accessible for our students. We also use Padlet and Kahoot for engagement. Some of these were even suggested by students, which I love. On the more formal side, we use QMplus (our Moodle platform), Office 365 tools, and things like QMplus Media, Brickfield, and H5P. These platforms help support accessibility and different learning styles.

Simon:

You're originally from the US. How long have you been living in the UK?

Lisa:

I’ve been here about 12 or 13 years now. I came in 2012 to study for an MSc in Information Management at the University of Sheffield. Initially, I planned to stay for just a year-UK master’s degrees are shorter than those in the US-but I ended up staying for my PhD at Queen Mary and then joined the academic staff.

Simon:

How long have you been working at Queen Mary?

Lisa:

I officially started as a lecturer in 2020, but I’ve been involved in teaching since around 2015 or 2016 as part of my PhD work. So it’s been quite a while!

Simon:

Outside of work, how do you relax and recharge?

Lisa:

I enjoy spending time with friends and family-either in person or at the pub. I also love reading, knitting, and sewing. I’m working on a slightly wonky sweater at the moment! I also watch a lot of movies-especially classic ones.

Simon:

Do you have a favourite movie genre?

Lisa:

Not really. I’ll watch almost anything that isn’t too scary-although I recently saw a vampire film, so I guess I break my own rules!

Simon:

What do you love most about the UK?

Lisa:

There’s a quiet sense of togetherness here. It’s subtle but real. People help each other out, especially during tough times, and they don’t need to make a fuss about it. It just gets done. I noticed that both in London and when I lived in Sheffield.

Quickfire Round

Tea or coffee?  -  Coffee. Always coffee.

Favourite holiday destination?  -  So far, Barcelona.

Favourite music artist?  -  That’s too hard! I’m from Detroit, so I grew up with Motown-let’s go with that.

If you could have any superpower?  -  Time travel.

Hidden talents?  -  I’m a strong alto! I grew up singing in church and city choirs in Detroit. I’m not a soloist, but I can hold my part.

Anyone from history you’d like to meet?  -  I’d love to speak with author Zora Neale Hurston-"Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a book I reread often. I’d also love to meet Billie Holiday. I feel modern recordings don’t quite capture the power of her voice as it must have been live.

Simon: That’s a beautiful answer to end on. Thank you so much for your time,

Lisa: It’s been a pleasure!