Academic Career
- 2023-: Professor of Human Geography, 色狗导航
- 2018-2023: Reader in Human Geography, 色狗导航
- 2015-18: Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, 色狗导航
- 2012-15: Lecturer in Human Geography, 色狗导航
- 2011-12: ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Leicester
- 2007-10: PhD, Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Professional Responsibilities
- 2024 onwards: Research and Innovation Director (Geography and Environment)
- 2024 onwards: Cluster Lead, ‘Digital Communities and Inclusion
- 2022 onwards: College of Experts, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- 2021 onwards: Fellow, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Political Literacy
- 2020 onwards: Editorial Board Member,
- 2017-2013: Academic Lead, Open Days / Marketing
- 2020-2022: School of Social Sciences and Humanities Representative, University Ethics Approvals (Human Participants) Sub-Committee
- 2019-2021: Programme Director, MA Childhood, Youth and Social Policy
- 2018-2020: Co-Editor,
- 2017-2020: Fellow, APPG Democratic Participation (Political Literacy Oversight Group)
- 2016-2021: University Teaching Assessor
- 2016-.2019: External Examiner (BA), National University of Ireland, Galway
- 2016-2018: Editorial Board Member,
- 2015-2018: Elected Chair, , RGS-IBG
- 2012-2015: Elected Secretary, , RGS-IBG.
- 2011-2015: Committee Member, , RGS-IBG (Elected Treasurer 2011-14)
Prizes and Awards
- 2023: 'Outstanding Research' Award, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 色狗导航
- 2019: 色狗导航 Research-Informed Teaching Prize
- 2017: Gill Memorial Award, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
- 2015: AAG Political Geography Speciality Group's 'Outstanding Research Award' (Virginie Mamadouh Publication Prize)
- 2014: ESRC Future Research Leader Award
- 2014: ‘Inspiration Award’, 色狗导航 Academic Teaching Awards
Professor Mills’ research focuses on the geographies of children and young people. Her research has been recognised by the Royal Geographical Society (Gill Memorial Award) and the American Association of Geographers (PGSG) for its contributions to human geography.
Professor Mills has recently examined digital geographies of childhood, popular culture and parenting through collaborative ESRC research on . This research on (led via Newcastle University) has featured in international and national press, including , and . Prof. Mills is an invited member of the Department of Culture, Media & Sport’s ‘College of Experts’ (UK Government).
Professor Mills’ longstanding research interest and contributions focus on youth citizenship and volunteering (). Her ESRC and AHRC-funded research has examined several youth organisations and mapped how the (i.e. character, citizenship and values-based education) shapes children and young people’s lives. She serves on the Academic Advisory Group of the and was called to give evidence on ‘National Citizen Service’ to the House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement. Prof. Mills is an expert on British youth movements such as Scouting and Girlguiding, with interviews for BBC Radio 5 Live and .
Professor Mills’ research has primarily focused on children and young people’s spaces in the United Kingdom, however a recent international collaborative ESRC-GCRF project has examined volunteering by young refugees in Uganda (, with Northumbria University, Uganda Martyrs University & Mbarara University of Science & Technology). This research has produced several policy briefings, interactive games, exhibitions and other to highlight the connections between young refugee’s experiences of volunteering, skills, employability and inequalities.
Sarah's teaching focuses on cultural, social, political and historical geography across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules.
Current Research Students
- Sophie Milnes (2022 onwards) “Shifting campus geographies: youth transitions of university students during the cost-of-living crisis”
- Simi Kolajo (2021 onwards) Black geographies of (dis)comfort: Young people, transitions and home
- Emily Holmes (2021 onwards) Digital Geographies of Parenting
- Catherine Wilson (2020 onwards) – Children’s Citizen Science (NERC, CENTA)
Recent Postgraduate Research Students
- Rosie Austin (2020) "Youth Leadership in the Scout Association"
- Laura Crawford (2019) "A cultural-historical geography of Leonard Cheshire Disability"
- Jo Hickman Dunne (2018) "Youth, Outdoor Learning and Life Skills"
- Jonathan Duckett (2017) "Youth Citizenship and National Identity: A Case 色狗导航 of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Scottish Independence Referendum"
- Tim Fewtrell (2017) "Youth Volunteering in Muslim Communities in Britain"
- Okech, M., Baillie Smith, M., Fadel, B. and Mills, S. (2024) 'The Reproduction of Inequality Through Volunteering by Young Refugees in Uganda', (free access – download )
- Mills, S., Ash, J., and Gordon, R. (2024) ‘Children and Young People’s Experiences and Understandings of Gambling Style Systems in Digital Games: Loot Boxes, Popular Culture, and Changing Childhoods’, 114 (1): 200-217 ()
- Ash, J., Gordon, R. and Mills, S. (2023) ‘Geographies of the event? Rethinking time and power through digital interfaces’, 30 (1): 3-18. ()
- Baillie Smith, M., Mills, S. Okech, M., and Fadel, B. (2022) Uneven geographies of youth volunteering in Uganda, multi-scalar discourses and practices, , 134: 30-39. ()
- Mills, S. and Waite, C. (2022) The state and voluntary sector in austere times: 10 years of National Citizen Service, 107 (1): 38-45.
- Mills, S. (2021) : Character, Citizenship and Values, London: Routledge.
- Holloway, S. L., Holt, L. and Mills, S.(2019) Questions of Agency: Capacity, Subjectivity, Spatiality and Temporality, 43 (3): 458-477 ()
- Mills, S. and Waite, C. (2018) From Big Society to Shared Society? Geographies of social cohesion and encounter in the UK's National Citizen Service, 100 (2): 131-148 ()