Staff Profile

Rod Purcell is currently Director of Community Engagement in the School of Education at Glasgow University.
His current research is focused on three key areas:

- The interrelationship between the structures and processes of urban spaces and how they shape the daily experience of everyday life
- The evolution of community organising as a model for social change
- The practice of popular education in urban communities

A new area of interest is being developed exploring the interrelationships between the provision/consumption of food, personal identity and community. A blog discussing this work is at: http://food-identity-community.blogspot.co.uk/

Rod teaches on the professional qualifying M.Ed. programme in Community Learning and Development. He is an-ex board member of the International Association for Community Development and an ex-chair of the Federation for Community Development Learning. Rod is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Rod is the grant holder and co-chair of STRADA, a Scottish wide organisation delivering training, education programmes and organisational development across the alcohol and drugs sector. STRADA is core funded by the Scottish Government. Details about STRADA can be found at: https://www.projectstrada.org/ems/live/

Selected Publications: 

Beck. D. Purcell, R. (2013) An International Study of Community Organising: Taking Power, Making Change, Policy Press

Carpenter, M. Purcell, R. eds. (2012) The Lisbon Papers, Oxford University Press / CDJ

Purcell, R. (2011) Community Development and Everyday Life, Community Development Journal, February 2011

Purcell, R. ed. (2010) Working in the Community 2: Practice Studies North Carolina: Lulu Press

Beck, D. Purcell, R, (2010) Popular Education for Youth and Community Workers, Learning Matters

Purcell, R. (2009) Images for Change: Community Development, Community Arts and Photography, Community Development Journal, Oxford University Press, Vol 44 No 1 January 2009 pp. 111–122

Purcell, R. (2005) Working in the Community: perspectives for change. Lulu Press

Purcell, R. (2005) Lifelong Learning in the Community: Social Action in Lifelong Learning: concepts and contexts, (Eds, Sutherland and Crowther). Abingdon: Routledge,