A Conversation with Esther Goucher

A Conversation with Esther Goucher

In the fifth episode of the PLEJ Podcast recent SSEES graduate, Esther Goucher, introduces us to her research on Ingrian Finns, Russian Finns and Karelians. We discuss her journey towards a sociolinguistic focus in her research, also as a form of both nuancing and broadening the history discipline. Through semi-structured interviews, Esther was able to explore how these topics intersect and interact: how are experiences of marginalisation expressed through memory and language, and how does this shape identities in the present day? We explore how underrepresented groups can be sensitively portrayed in research, acknowledging that identities and histories are uniquely expressed across communities. About Esther: Esther Goucher is a recent graduate (2025) of SSEES’s International Master’s programme including a year spent studying at the University of Helsinki. She has a background in Russian studies, history and sociology.   Her dissertation focussed on how individuals from minority groups between Russia and Finland experience and reproduce these identities in their daily lives, with particular reference to how memories and the past are used to do so. Different experiences of marginalisation and the subsequent flattening and silencing of histories and identities formed a key part of this research. The research involved interviewing members of these groups and analysis of a museum exhibition centring on one of these groups. She is hoping to pursue further research in the future covering similar topics broadly relating to memory politics, processes of national and ethnic identification and micro-sociological approaches to belonging in everyday life.   She can be contacted via LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/in/esther-goucher-68437b352 [http://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-goucher-68437b352]  About Hayley:  Hayley was Student Associate for PLEJ and is a current MA student of Languages and Cultures Across Borders at the University of London. She graduated from UCL in September 2025 with a degree in European Social and Political Studies, specialising in Hungarian and History. She is due to begin an MPhil/PhD at SSEES in September, focusing on multilingualism, minoritisation and marginalisation in South-East Slovakia.

A Conversation with Iris Su

In the fourth episode of the PLEJ Podcast explore how Slade Art School Graduate, Iris, has come to terms with the concept of trash. How can we draw attention to the topics and objects that we often ignore? Through a multimodal approach, Iris’s representation of trash serves as a visual interpretation of language and its hierarchies. In reclaiming the term ‘trash’, Iris prompts us to question our preconceptions and inquire lessons from the everyday objects which end up beneath our feet. We discuss how art can locate the in-between, translating life visually through our habits, movements, and that which we leave behind.   About Iris:  Please visit: Iris Su, Jiayi [https://www.irrisirris.org/2025]  About Hayley:  Hayley was Student Associate for PLEJ and is a current MA student of Languages and Cultures Across Borders at the University of London. She graduated from UCL in September 2025 with a degree in European Social and Political Studies, specialising in Hungarian and History. She is due to begin an MPhil/PhD at SSEES in September, focusing on multilingualism, minoritisation and marginalisation in South-East Slovakia.

A Conversation with Cecilia

The third episode of the PLEJ Podcast engages with the intersection between language, politics and gender. PhD student Cecilia Berti provides an overview of her research which aims to critically understand the discourse of key women in right-wing political parties: Giorgia Meloni, Marine Le Pen, Alice Weidel and Frauke Petry. In their communicative methods, across various platforms, what is revealed about the ideologies and aims of each of these leaders? We also discuss how unique expressions of femininity advance wider party agendas, and how this is adapted for audience, podium and time.  About Cecilia:  Thanks to a Quirk PhD Scholarship at UCL, I am able to research the role of gender, as discourse topic and as performance, by women leaders of radical right parties in Europe. This follows a long-standing interest in the intersection of identity with political linguistics. I was awarded a distinction for my MA dissertation at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany), on the variation of BATH/TRAP vowels by Scottish Labour and Scottish Nationalist Party politicians before and after the Scottish Independence Referendum. In addition, I am an affiliated student with the Centre for French and Francophone Research and the Plenary for Linguistic and Epistemic Justice at UCL.  About Hayley:  Hayley was Student Associate for PLEJ and is a current MA student of Languages and Cultures Across Borders at the University of London. She graduated from UCL in September 2025 with a degree in European Social and Political Studies, specialising in Hungarian and History. She is due to begin an MPhil/PhD at SSEES in September, focusing on multilingualism, minoritisation and marginalisation in South-East Slovakia.

A Conversation with Luyilin An (Andrea)

Our second episode of the PLEJ podcast is with Luyilin An (Andrea). We talked about a project she conducted in her home city of Jinan, where there is a unique form of address, representative of specific local realities. She conducted surveys and interviews across Jinan, understanding the usage of the term 老师(lǎoshī), which translates usually to ‘teacher’, but takes on a particular endearing mode of address when used in the proximity of Jinan. We talked about what emotional, cultural and social meaning is carried and shared in a single word, and what is lost as language evolves across time and generations. We also explored a more broadly the nature of research ethics and her interest in diasporic literature and linguistic justice more widely.

A Conversation with Christopher Phillippe-Rodriguez

In our first episode of the PLEJ podcast, Christopher Phillippe-Rodriguez joins Hayley Anderson to explore the implications of philosophical study on our understanding of linguistic and epistemic (in)justice. Christopher provides a comprehensive introduction into the philosophy of language and delves into the ways it shapes and informs the legal sector, debates on translation, and questions surrounding intelligibility. In this intersection between philosophy and linguistics, we explore how these frameworks can help acknowledge or remedy cases of linguistic and epistemic injustice.   About Christopher:   Christopher Thomas Phillippe-Rodriguez is an MA and prospective MPhil student in philosophy at University College London. He holds a bachelor's degree summa cum laude in philosophy and a minor in chemistry from the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, during which he specialized in jurisprudence and epistemology. His primary research interests currently include the philosophy of language, philosophy of perception, epistemology, and 20th Century Continental philosophy. He maintains interests other than philosophy in the form of linguistics, literature, cognitive science, and geography.   Find some of Christopher’s research and writing here:   * Phillippe-Rodriguez, C. (2024). A Phenomenological Approach to Legal Epistemic Injustice. Stance: An International Undergraduate Philosophy Journal, 17(1), 12–25. https://doi.org/10.33043/S.17.1.12-25 [https://doi.org/10.33043/S.17.1.12-25]  * Christopher’s Substack https://substack.com/@ctpr [https://substack.com/@ctpr]  About Hayley:  Hayley was Student Associate for PLEJ and is a current MA student of Languages and Cultures Across Borders at the University of London. She graduated from UCL in September 2025 with a degree in European Social and Political Studies, specialising in Hungarian and History. She is due to begin an MPhil/PhD at SSEES in September, focusing on multilingualism, minoritisation and marginalisation in South-East Slovakia.