Carolyn Downs PhD was a ‘Social, Economic and Cultural History of Bingo 1906-2005’ and this acted as a springboard for research into various social aspects of gambling, leisure and entrepreneurship.
Carolyn Downs has recently been awarded a large grant under the EU Erasmus scheme. ELIE (Employability: Learning through International Entrepreneurship) which aims to develop and apply the knowledge of immigrant enrteprenuers to assist policy makers in governments, financial institutions and other relevant bodies in their approach to immigrants wishing to start businesses. ELIE also aims to develop an effective learning framework for use in informal settings that will assist people considering establishing their own businesses as immigrants to a new country. She was the PI on the first UK s
more...Carolyn Downs PhD was a ‘Social, Economic and Cultural History of Bingo 1906-2005’ and this acted as a springboard for research into various social aspects of gambling, leisure and entrepreneurship.
Carolyn Downs has recently been awarded a large grant under the EU Erasmus scheme. ELIE (Employability: Learning through International Entrepreneurship) which aims to develop and apply the knowledge of immigrant enrteprenuers to assist policy makers in governments, financial institutions and other relevant bodies in their approach to immigrants wishing to start businesses. ELIE also aims to develop an effective learning framework for use in informal settings that will assist people considering establishing their own businesses as immigrants to a new country. She was the PI on the first UK study of the relationship between Gambling and Debt (funded by GamCare and the Money Advice Trust). Other research projects include her ongoing investigation into the role of online social networking in the lives of young people. She led a pilot study into the role of leisure activities in encouraging alcohol use amongst young people (Keep it in the Can), funded by the Iconic Salford Grants. She is also leading a Greater Manchester consortium that plans to use Mass Observation methodologies explore the contemporary leisure lives of young people.
working in conjunction with the ESRC ‘Timescapes Project’ based at the University of Leeds.
Carolyn Downs organised the first UK conference on Gambling and Social Responsibility (September, 2008), attracting several overseas speakers and an audience of over 100 from academia, government and industry and edited a special issue of the Journal Communities, Work and Families on the theme of gambling and society.
Alongside her post at the University of Salford Carolyn Downs holds an Honorary Research Fellowship at MMU in the Research Institute for Health and Social Change and also maintains an active interest in 18th and 19th century history, publishing regularly on entrepreneurship and the Atlantic trade, radicalism and the social history of gambling.
