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Dr Valeria Lo Iacono – Co-Founder

Dr Valeria Lo Iacono is Co-Founder of Symonds Research. She has a PhD in Dance and Cultural Heritage Studies, with sociology forming an important part of her research approach, and has spent more than 20 years working in education. Her experience includes teaching and research at the University of Bath and the University of Exeter, as well as management work at Cardiff University. At Symonds Research, she helps create practical training materials for trainers, HR teams, and educators.

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Expertise

  • PhD in Dance and Cultural Heritage Studies, drawing on sociological theory and research
  • Taught as a university lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK), University of Bath (UK), and Hanguk University of Foreign Studies (South Korea)
  • Worked as a researcher at the University of Exeter (UK)
  • 10+ years working in management roles, including for Cardiff University (UK)
  • Certificate in ‘Introduction to Post Compulsory Education Teaching & Training’ (PCET) from Cardiff Metropolitan University School of Education & Social Policy.
  • Working in education for 20+ years.

Valeria also has a Master’s degree in Tourism Management and Economics from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italy.

Valeria has lived in the UK for over 20 years with her husband, but grew up in Sicily, Italy. She is fascinated by education and enjoys designing training course materials on soft skills, leadership, and management.

Valeria completed her PhD in Dance and Cultural Heritage Studies at Cardiff Metropolitan University in the UK, with sociology forming an important part of her research. She has taught and worked as a researcher at:

  • University of Bath, UK
  • University of Exeter, UK
  • and Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK

Valeria has also taught at

  • Hanguk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea

She also has a Master’s in Tourism Management and Economics from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italy.

Before her PhD, Valeria’s experience included several years as a supervisor with Ofsted in Bristol, UK, and over 5 years working as a manager at Cardiff University in an administrative role.

Academic Publications

Journal articles

Non-academic Press

Conference Papers

  • Wayfinding on Cruise Ships: A Complex Activity in Tourism Practice. –  Royal Geographical Society-IBG Annual International Conference, London, 1st September 2017.
  • Is VoIP a Feasible Tool for Dance Research? Use of Skype for Qualitative Interviews on Dance as Transcultural Heritage. – DanceHE Symposium, University of Bedfordshire, Bedford, 7th April 2016.
  • Can video-sharing sites be valid platforms to archive, share, and re-live dance as heritage? The case of Egyptian Raqs Sharqi. – Digital Echoes, Coventry University, Coventry, 4th March 2016.
  • Can online videos be powerful tools to curate dance as a form of cultural heritage? The case of Egyptian Raqs sharqi. – Presented at PopMoves, University of Roehampton, London, 24th October 2015.
  • How do we protect living cultural heritage? – Presented at Breaking Boundaries, Cardiff University, Cardiff, 23rd April 2015.

Awards

  • Best Student Poster at Cardiff Metropolitan University Symposium, 5th May 2016.
  • Best Presentation Prize at Cardiff University Breaking Boundaries conference, 23rd April 2015.

Teaching and Research Experience

  • Co-owner of Symonds Research, offering training course materials including on equality and diversity and employee training.
  • January 2019 – April 2019: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, UK, Department of Education. The research project was a systematic literature review on high school religious education teachers’ epistemologies.
  • February 2017 – July 2018: Teaching Fellow at the University of Bath, UK, teaching sociology of tourism, leisure, and sport, and supervising students’ dissertations.
  • ­Visiting Lecturer for the ‘Sporting Bodies and Social Identities’ master’s-level course at Cardiff Metropolitan University, on the topics of sociology, heritage, identity, and qualitative research methods.
  • Guest lecturer in the School of Dance at Cardiff Metropolitan University, in the module of Analytical and Contextual Studies on the topic of Hybridism and Authenticity in Dance.
  • Delivered lectures at Cardiff Metropolitan University in qualitative research methods, including using online videos to curate and analyze dance as a form of cultural heritage and qualitative interviews using Skype.
  • Hourly paid lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University, teaching research methods and sociological research at undergraduate and master’s level.
  • Lecturer of Italian language and culture at Hanguk University of Foreign Studies (Seoul, South Korea).
  • Valeria taught Egyptian-style belly dance classes in Cardiff, UK, for many years, including groups of up to 30 people, one-on-one classes, workshops, and hen party groups.

Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

  • Ph.D. in Dance and Cultural Heritage at Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff, Wales, UK.
  • Master’s in Tourism Management and Economics from Ca’ Foscari University in Venice (Italy).
  • First-class honors degree in Preservation of Cultural Heritage from Università degli Studi della Tuscia (Viterbo, Italy).