Haynes Collins

Dr. Haynes Collins is an Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds, within the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. His work bridges sociolinguistics, ethnography, and intercultural communication, with a distinctive focus on public spaces such as swimming pools as sites of cultural negotiation and identity formation.

Education:

• PhD in Applied Linguistics – Christ Church Canterbury University
• MA in Social Anthropology – School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
• MA in TESOL – School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont

His research investigates how institutional and media discourses shape cultural identity and interculturality, often through ethnographic engagement with marginalized communities and everyday practices. A central theme in his recent work is the exploration of inclusivity, resistance, and belonging in British public swimming pools, as seen in his project An Anthropology of Swimming. He examines how small culture contexts reveal broader ideological struggles around difference, marginality, and epistemic violence.

The analysis of his recent publications reveals a consistent focus on intercultural dialogue, critical cosmopolitanism, and the politics of representation. His work spans academic and community-led settings, combining discourse analysis with lived experience to challenge essentialist views of culture. Themes of bodily autonomy, failed mediation, and performative identity recur across his research, particularly in institutional contexts shaped by neoliberal agendas.

Scientific Awards and Professional Memberships:

• Member, International Association of Languages and Intercultural Communication

Dr. Collins actively supervises PhD students and teaches undergraduate and postgraduate modules in intercultural studies and sociolinguistics. He contributes to research groups on multilingualism and encourages global PhD applications. His work is supported by ongoing research outputs and engagement with interdisciplinary scholarship, though specific grants are not mentioned in the text.

He is affiliated with research initiatives exploring intercultural communication and EAP pedagogy, and his ethnographic projects often involve collaborative teams, particularly in studies of public pools and community belonging. His future work appears poised to deepen the anthropological lens on everyday intercultural encounters in shared public infrastructures.