Ursula Hurley

Professor Ursula Hurley is a Chair in Life Writing at the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technologies, University of Salford. She directs the English Research Centre and co-leads Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives. Her career spans teaching, advertising, and community engagement before academia.

• Chair in Life Writing (2023)
• Co-lead for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Founding Director of Salford’s Doctoral School (2018-2021)

Her research bridges creative writing with digital fabrication, disability studies, and social engagement. She pioneered the UK’s first inclusive mobile FabLab (2016) and explores surrealist methodologies, gender politics, and interdisciplinary approaches to auto/biographical expression.

Recent publications focus on failure pedagogy, postcolonial narratives, and experimental life writing. They reveal trends in:

• Disability-inclusive technology
• Decolonizing curricula
• Failure-positive leadership
• Hybrid critical/creative scholarship

Scientific recognition includes:

• AHRC funding (2016)
• Multiple teaching awards

As a PhD supervisor, she mentors projects on film theory to experimental essays and Jungian psychoanalysis. Her grant work spans community regeneration, digital inclusion, and educational resilience initiatives. She leads labs like the In the Making digital fabrication project and collaborates with teams in the English Research Centre and Creative Technology Research Centre.