Six questions with... Professor Carrie Paechter FAcSS

What’s your favourite way to greet people?

It depends on the person. Hugs are good, but I don’t want to be hugged by everyone.

What conversation makes you happy?

Conversations with my children, usually. And conversations in which I learn something new about a person or idea.

What conversation topic makes you nervous?

Small talk with people I don’t know. I’ve got better with practice, but I still don’t really know how to do it and so I probably come over as a bit weird or intense.

What makes you laugh?

Absurdity. Good parody will start me off, too. But slapstick leaves me cold.

If you could ask someone, dead or alive, anything - who and what would you ask them?

I’d like to ask my great-aunt Anneliese if she was a lesbian. There’s lots of evidence, but nothing definitive, as far as I know.

What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?

I’m not sure I’ve ever done anything particularly brave. Foolhardy, maybe. I find a lot of objectively ordinary things quite daunting, but gritting my teeth and doing them anyway doesn’t really feel that it counts.

Professor Carrie Paechter FAcSS

Director, Nottingham Centre for Children, Young People and Families

https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/social-sciences/carrie-paechter

Twitter: @CarriePaechter