Professor Alastair Christie: I joined the School of Applied Social Studies at UCC as a lecturer in 1997 and was appointed as a professor in 2002. Prior to that I worked in the Department of Applied Social Science, Lancaster University, England and as a social worker and social work manager for NGOs and local government in London (UK) and Vancouver (Canada).

I completed my PhD in the Department of Social Policy, Manchester University in 1998 and have published widely on gender and the social professions, social work education and more recently on migration, social policy and social work.  I am currently a member of the Critical Social Policy editorial collective and the editorial board of International Social Work and the advisory board of Ethics and Social Welfare.  I am also a member the Health Service Executive National Advisory Group on Children and Family Services.

My main research interest is in examining social services through the disciplines of social policy and sociology.  Current research interests include: a study of how whiteness is negotiated in cross-racial foster care relationships; a collaborative study on child migration; and a study on pathways/outcomes of children in care.