MS LEANNE COOPER

Biography

Leanne is an Elphinstone Scholarship funded PhD student in the department of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen.

Leanne's research is looking at veganism from a sociological perspective using qualitative methodologies.

Her research aims to look at veganism through vegans' personal experiences.

Using the in-depth data from interviews she seeks to explore the decision-making strategies of vegans and how they negotiate themselves and their choices in a non-vegan society.

Leanne is also looking at how vegans experience the everyday in terms of institutional and social contexts; how the state use or implement legislation, law, and human rights; and veganism as a protected belief.

Leanne is interested in what veganism means in the 21st century.

Prizes and Awards

• Elphinstone Scholarship
• Robert Gordon University's Aberdeen Business School's 4th Year Media Studies Prize

Research Overview

Prior to starting her PhD, Leanne graduated with an MSc with Distinction in Sociology in 2016 from the University of Aberdeen and gained her undergraduate degree of BA (Hons) in Media Studies from the Robert Gordon University in 2010.

Her dissertations were titled "You Do The Best You Can": The Challenges of Practice vs Ideology in Veganism. An Exploration of Accounts and An Investigation into the Influence of the Riot Grrrl Feminist Movement, respectively.

Leanne's research is looking at veganism from a sociological perspective using qualitative methodologies.

Her research aims to look at veganism through vegans' personal experiences.

Using the in-depth data from interviews and by analysing insitutional documents she seeks to explore how vegans experience the everyday in terms of institutional and social contexts; how the state use or implement guidelines, policy, legislation, and law; and veganism as a protected belief.

Leanne is also interested in the decision-making strategies of vegans, how they negotiate themselves and their choices in a non-vegan world, and what veganism means in the 21st century.

This research project is being supervised by Dr. Rhoda Wilkie and Dr. Andrew McKinnon, both of the department of sociology at the University of Aberdeen.

Teaching Responsibilities

Teaching Assistant

• (SO1005) Introductory Sociology 1: Self, Identity, and Society
• (SO1509) Introductory Sociology 2: Systems of Power