DrJane Booth

Jane is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Wolverhampton.
Her teaching interests bridge the disciplines of sociology and social policy, namely the politics of welfare, community engagement, death and dying, social change. However she is also interested in curriculum development in HE, with a particular focus on community-based learning and critical pedagogy. She is module leader for a number of community-based learning modules at University of Wolverhampton. She has lead 2 teams of students who participated in the SHAPE programme in 2023 and 2024 - a joint Students Organising for Sustainability (SoS) and The British Academy programme. The team in 2023 designed a website to enhance the mental health and wellbeing of young people in Wolverhampton, coproduced with Base 25 (a Wolverhampton based charity that works with children, young people and families). In 2024 the students worked with the University of Wolverhampton Catering services to promote a more plant-based diet. She set up the University of Wolverhampton Death Cafes. She also is module leader (and the designer) of the module Advocacy in Action, where social science students work with graphic design students to produce campaigns to raise awareness of social issues, such as Domestic Abuse and Nighttime Safety which have been promoted widely across the University. She has recently set up the Social Purpose Hub (Social Purpose Hub - University of Wolverhampton), a space for local community and voluntary organisations to enlist student support to help them deliver their services to enhance the wellbeing of local people. 
In a previous role at University of Bradford she developed the IMPACT project, creating a volunteer ‘bank’ for social science students wishing to support the local community, drawing on their learning of social issues. Supported by the voluntary organisations, Equality Together and Hidden Voices, students worked with service user groups to co-produce collaborative events for people with Mental Health Issues. This project resulted in being awarded the 2017 Teaching Award at University of Bradford for her contribution to student learning.
In University of Wales Jane was a lecturer in Social Policy, and was project lead for the evaluation of a project in South Wales, engaging disadvantaged groups in co-creating improved health and wellbeing outcomes. This project presented the opportunity to investigate the opportunities and barriers to shared decision-making.
Jane worked in the voluntary sector for a number of years post PhD, including managing the project "Women in Governance" in South West London (2002-2007), which provided training and mentoring for women from disadvantaged backgrounds to get involved in decision-making. She also managed a parent participation project for a national autism charity, TreeHouse, supporting parent carer forums to work with Local Authorities to ensure better outcomes for children with disabilities (2008-2010).