My background includes undergraduate and Masters degrees in English Literature from the universities of Keele and Leeds , and a further Masters in Organization Development and PhD from what is now Sheffield Hallam University . More recently I was awarded a D.LItt from Durham University . I have held Chairs in Wollongong (NSW), Sunderland . Essex and Durham before moving to York . I also spent 2 years as a Visting Scholar at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.