New CeLM Director appointed

Dr Holly Joseph has been appointed as the new Director of the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism (CeLM), following the end of Professor Ludovica Serratrice's tenure. Dr Joseph will take up her position on 1 August 2021.

Dr Joseph is an Associate Professor of Language Education and Literacy Development at the Institute of Education. Her work on children's reading development and difficulties with a focus on children who speak English as an additional language has an excellent fit with the core research themes of CeLM. As co-director of Bilingualism Matters at Reading, she is already involved in much of CeLM's outreach work with multilingual communities.

Alongside being the current Director of CeLM, Professor Serratrice is a Professor of Bi-Multilingualism in the School of Psychology & Clinical Language Sciences. She took over the CeLM directorship in June 2018, with her tenure running until 2021. Over the last three years she has been working with CeLM colleagues and PhD students from across the university to foster an interdisciplinary approach to research, public engagement, and research training. The Centre has been very active on all three fronts with more than 30 national and international events over the last three years. Going online during the pandemic has further expanded CeLM's reach with hundreds of attendees all over the world for this year's online dates.  

Dr Joseph will consolidate the progress made by CeLM to date and is keen to explore connections with research relating to social disadvantage.

Professor Parveen Yaqoob, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation, said:

"Interdisciplinary research is an important element of the University's research strategy, enabling us to address research challenges through collaborative efforts that bring together different approaches in innovative ways. There are ten Interdisciplinary Research Centres in key areas of strength, of which CeLM is one, acting as a clear focal point for engagement with researchers, funders and stakeholders.

We are extremely grateful to Professor Serratrice for her leadership of CeLM; Dr Joseph will be taking on a vibrant community of researchers and I look forward to the next stage in the Centre's development."

About CeLM

CeLM is an interdisciplinary research centre at the University of Reading, bringing together established researchers, early career scholars, and PhD students from the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, and from the Institute of Education. CeLM has an international reputation for conducting research on literacy and multilingualism bringing together experts from linguistics and language studies, psychology, neuroscience, and education. CeLM is well known for its public engagement activities and for its research training agenda.