Ruth Cruickshank

Ruth Cruickshank is a Reader in French & Comparative Literature and Culture at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Royal Holloway, University of London. She is affiliated with the School of Humanities and serves as the Community and Inclusion Lead (2023–present). Previously, she held roles such as Director of Student Experience (2022–23) and Senior Tutor (2019–21). Her research focuses on OSFED (Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders), interdisciplinary food studies, French literature, and film. She is a consultant for Beat, a UK eating disorder charity, and actively engages in EDI initiatives, winning three RHUL Teaching Prizes for her inclusive approaches. Her work bridges literary criticism, health humanities, and global food cultures.

Research Interests:

• OSFED and biomedical silencing mechanisms
• Food representation in literature, film, and thought
• Post-war French literature (Houellebecq, Ernaux, Angot)
• Consumer culture and globalization in French contexts
• Gender and postcolonial studies

Awards and Recognition:

• Chartered Linguist in French (2019)
• College Team Teaching Prize (2009, 2020)
• ESO Educational Support Awards (2014, 2015)
• Student Union ‘Apple for the Teacher’ Excellence Prize (2011)

Her teaching innovations include modules like ‘Encounters with Food and Power’ and ‘Twenty-first-century World Food Fictions’. She has supervised six PhD/Master’s students and mentors early-career researchers. Active in academic and public engagement, she organizes conferences on food cultures and serves on editorial boards like French Cultural Studies. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to education and sustainable consumption.