Dr Dean Clay

Dr Dean Clay

I am the Higher Education Research and Student Engagement Coordinator at Newcastle College University Centre (NCUC), where I support the development of research, scholarly activity, and student engagement across our higher education provision. As part of the Research, Scholarship, and Engagement (RSE) Team, I help coordinate projects that create meaningful opportunities for staff and students to get involved in research – from training and events to student voice initiatives and support for ethical practice. I also contribute to institutional work around research culture, communications, and professional development, and am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

Alongside my role at NCUC, I am an academic researcher with a focus on U.S. activism and its transnational dimensions. My work explores how activist movements coordinate across borders and influence government policy, both domestically and internationally. This includes past research on the Congo reform movement and current work on the environmental activism of conservation organisations in the early twentieth-century United States, particularly its imperial and ideological implications. 

Prior to joining NCUC, I was Programme Director and Lecturer in History at the University of Hull and have taught at several other institutions including Newcastle University, Northumbria University, and Liverpool John Moores University.