Dr Alexander Seal

I joined the Department of Sociology as a PhD student in 2012, completing a PhD on ‘The motivations, experiences, and aspirations of UK students on short-term international mobility programmes’. I then became at a part time staff member in 2015, before transitioning to a full-time lecturer in 2016. I assumed the role of Associate Dean (International) in 2020 and now enjoy working both in university management, whilst retaining my much loved role in the classroom.

As the Associate Dean (International) for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, I lead the international strategies for each of the nine Schools and Departments in the Faculty. FASS prides itself on the collaborative global partners we work to deliver exciting opportunities for both our students and staff. In my role as the Associate Dean (International), I assist our Schools and Departments develop their exchange mobility programmes for study abroad experiences and develop new educational pathways for international students to study at Surrey and for Surrey students to study at our excellent international partners. I am also responsible for developing international collaboration to develop our world leading research at the University.

As a sociologist, I am particularly interested in travel and tourism and how social class affects the visitor experience. I also have a particular interest in ‘Internationalisation at Home’ (IaH) and ‘Collaborative Online International Learning’ (COIL). In 2020, I established the ‘UGPN Academy’. This is now an annual COIL academy that connects students within the UGPN network. I am interested in both research and practice of IaH/COIL programmes.