Dr Gillian McFadyen is a Lecturer in International Politics. Gillian's research focuses on the international refugee regime, with a particular focus on the British refugee system. 

Gillian has a PhD from Aberystwyth, as well as degrees from Aber (MSc), Glasgow (MSc) and Glasgow Caledonian (BA Hons). She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a 2021 alum of the Welsh Crucible. 

From August- January 2025, Gillian is on Research Leave. 

Gillian's research engages with the area of refugee studies. She is particularly interested in refugee law, the British Asylum system, EU asylum process, as well as applying theories such as hospitality, labelling and coloniality to the refugee regime. She also has an interest in memory, trauma, silence and their application to refugee politics. Gillian's first book, Refugees in Britain: Practices of Hospitality and Labelling was published with Edinburgh University Press (2020).  Currently, Gillian is working on two projects 1) exploring colonial legacies within the UNHCR and 2) developing a new project on climate hospitality. 

A secondary field of research, sees her focuses on political embroidery, using stitching and craftivism as a method of resistance, memory, activism and story-telling. This research has seen her work on multiple projects at the national and international level, with exhibitions at the Tate Modern, Liverpool (2018), British Refugee Council Archives, London (2019) and Bordando Por la Memoria Project. She is co-convenor of the departments political embroidery group, Stitched Voices.

In this thread, Gillian is working on an interdisciplinary project with researchers from Swansea and Northumbria University - Maternal Guilt Quilt- an innovative project that explores maternal emotional experiences, through a digitally augmented quilt that narrates mothers experiences of feeding. We are now utilizing the quilt as a tool kit to take to health professionals in order to support perinatal mental services health in Wales. 

Expertise: Gillian is interested in supervising projects in the following areas: refugee, asylum, hospitality, labelling, memory, trauma, language, detention, coloniality, colonial legacies, human rights, political embroidery/arts, propaganda.

PhDs to completion:
Dr Chloe Sydney
Dr Joanne Elliott

Gillian teaches in the area of International Politics and Global Development, covering modules on Global Politics, Global Development and Refugee Politics/Simulation. In 2020 she won the Aber SU Student and Staff Award for Creative Teaching.