FELS Inaugural Lecture with Professor Andrew Power Event

Time:

3:30pm

Date:

2026-03-18 15:30:00

Venue:

University of Southampton, Centenary Building (100), University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ

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Event details

This is the fourth Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences Inaugural Lecture in our 2025-26 series that celebrates the careers of our newly appointed Professors. On Wednesday 18th March 2026, Professor Andrew Power from the School of Geography and Environmental Science and Mari Carmen Portillo from the School of Health Sciences will present their research. Details of both lectures are available via the booking link.

Professor Andrew Power

Navigating the Geographies of Care: Disability, Support and the Making of Place

From the home to the community and the everyday places that shape our lives, care plays a central role for all of us, as everyone has needed, does need, or will need support at some point.

Care is often viewed as altruistic and benign, yet for many people who rely on support it can also be disruptive, intrusive, and controlling. For disabled people, the home may become a workplace for care staff, turning it into a space of both comfort and intrusion. In community settings, care is shaped by boundaries that can unintentionally disempower those it is meant to support.

Professor Power’s inaugural lecture explores the spaces in which care is lived, experienced, and negotiated. He will reflect on his collaborative, person-centred research with disabled people and others, and on his career journey, highlighting how research, practice, and lived experience can come together to support more just and inclusive lives.

Biography

Andrew (‘Andy’) Power is Professor of Social Geography in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton. His introduction to social geography came through an undergraduate module of the same name, which included a focus on the geographies of disability. After completing his degree, he worked part-time as a disability assistant for a disability organisation, an experience that inspired him to undertake a PhD on family care and disability.

Following two postdoctoral fellowships, Andy joined the School of Geography and Environmental Science as a Lecturer in 2011. Immersed in the discipline, he began teaching social geography while also working closely with scholars, practitioners, and organisations beyond geography. Through these collaborations, he became increasingly engaged with wider debates around social justice, care, and inclusion.

His research includes several collaborative projects with adults with learning disabilities, notably an ESRC-funded study exploring how people build lives together in the community, and an NIHR School for Social Care Research–funded study focused on shared homes.