Triona Fitton

Dr Triona Fitton is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR), where she also serves as Academic Lead for the Student Success Project and Welcome Week Coordinator. She concurrently holds a Visiting Lecturer role at Bayes Business School, City University, on their MSc in Grantmaking, Philanthropy & Social Investment.

Dr Fitton holds a first-class BA in Sociology from Lancaster University, an MA in Social Research, and a PhD in Sociology from the University of York (funded by an ESRC 1+3 award). Her research focuses on charity studies, second-hand consumption, and inclusive education. Notable outputs include her 2015 monograph Hidden History: Philanthropy at the University of Kent, co-edited symposium volumes, and recent work on race and ethnicity in British Sociology.

Her pedagogical innovations include designing the Centre for Philanthropy’s distance-learning MA Philanthropic Studies and leading the WriteRight! academic skills programme. Her research has been presented globally at venues like ARNOVA and ISTR, and she co-organized the 2021 Second-Hand Cultures in Unsettled Times International Symposium.

• Key Projects: Student Success Project (retention initiatives), BSA-funded acKnowledge race-ethnicity repository
• Grants: ESRC 1+3 scholarship, University of Kent 50th Anniversary funding
• Teams: SSPSSR Teaching & Learning Committee, JOMEC Journal Editorial Board

Her scholarship bridges theory and practice, addressing urgent issues like sustainability in secondhand markets, elite leisure ethics, and decolonizing sociological curricula.