# Karen Nairn

Karen Marie Nairn is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor of education at the University of Otago, specialising in youth-centred research.

## Academic career

Nairn was a high school geography teacher interested in environmental issues, before entering academia. Nairn completed a Master of Arts in geography at the University of Canterbury in 1994, and then went on to do a PhD titled Disciplining identities: gender, geography and the culture of fieldtrips at the University of Waikato. Nairn then joined the faculty of the University of Otago, rising to associate professor in 2014 and full professor in 2022.
Nairn's research focus is young people and social movements. Nairn was the lead researcher on a 2017 Marsden grant about young people's engagement in social movements, with collaborators Joanna Kidman, Judith Sligo, and Anita Lacey. This work led to the publication of the book Fierce Hope: Youth Activism in Aotearoa in 2022, which covers youth-led groups working in areas such as indigenous land rights, sexual violence and social inequality. This was the second Marsden grant Nairn has received, having published Children of Rogernomics: A Neoliberal Generation Leaves School in 2012 from an earlier Marsden-funded research project on the impact of neoliberal reform in New Zealand. Nairn has also research the impact of a Year 12 (last year of high school) leadership programme for young women.
Nairn spoke about youth activism and Ihumātao alongside Qiane Matata-Sipu at the 2023 Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival.

## Selected works
### Books

* Nairn, Karen; Higgins, Jane; Sligo, Judith, eds. (2012). Children of Rogernomics: A Neoliberal Generation Leaves School. Otago University Press. ISBN 978-1-877578-18-2.
* Nairn, Karen; Sligo, Judith; Showden, Carisa R.; Matthews, Kyle R.; Kidman, Joanna, eds. (December 2022). Fierce Hope. Youth Activism in Aotearoa. Bridget Williams Books. ISBN 9781990046681.

### Journal articles

* Jenny Cameron; Karen Nairn; Jane Higgins (May 2009). "Demystifying Academic Writing: Reflections on Emotions, Know-How and Academic Identity". Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 33 (2): 269–284. doi:10.1080/03098260902734943. ISSN 0309-8265. Wikidata Q124816256.
* Karen Nairn; Jenny Munro; Anne B. Smith (May 2005). "A counter-narrative of a 'failed' interview". Qualitative Research. 5 (2): 221–244. doi:10.1177/1468794105050836. ISSN 1468-7941. Wikidata Q124816257.
* Karen Nairn; Jenny Cameron; Megan Anakin; Adisorn Juntrasook; Rob Wass; Judith Sligo; Catherine Morrison (12 November 2014). "Negotiating the challenge of collaborative writing: learning from one writing group's mutiny". Higher Education Research and Development. 34 (3): 596–608. doi:10.1080/07294360.2014.973383. ISSN 0729-4360. Wikidata Q124816056.
* Karen Nairn; Ruth Panelli; Jaleh McCormack (1 February 2003). "Destabilizing Dualisms: Young People's Experiences of Rural and Urban Environments". Childhood (in German). 10 (1): 9–42. doi:10.1177/0907568203010001002. ISSN 0907-5682. Wikidata Q124816252.
* Karen Nairn; Jane Higgins; Brigid Thompson; Megan Anderson; Nedra Fu (17 July 2006). "'It's Just Like the Teenage Stereotype, You Go Out and Drink and Stuff': Hearing from Young People who Don't Drink". Journal of Youth Studies. 9 (3): 287–304. doi:10.1080/13676260600805655. ISSN 1367-6261. Wikidata Q111222456.
* Karen Nairn (July 2005). "The Problems of Utilizing 'Direct Experience' in Geography Education". Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 29 (2): 293–309. doi:10.1080/03098260500130635. ISSN 0309-8265. Wikidata Q124816250.
* Carisa R. Showden; Emma Barker-Clarke; Judith Sligo; Karen Nairn (6 February 2023). "The connective is communal: hybrid activism in online & offline spaces". Social Movement Studies: 1–20. doi:10.1080/14742837.2023.2171387. ISSN 1474-2837. Wikidata Q124816043.