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Victoria Cole

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PhD Researcher

Victoria is a Registered Mental Health Nurse who works as a Mental Health Nursing Lecturer at ARU. She is currently researching the use of speculative fiction to reclaim agency for neurodiverse women, to challenge psychiatric misdiagnosis and stigma.
She is supervised by Dr Tory Young and Dr Timothy Jarvis.

Email: [email protected]

Faculty:
Faculty of Arts, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences
Location:
Cambridge
Areas of Expertise:
Gender , Literature , Mental health
Background

Victoria has a diverse background spanning both the humanities and sciences. She earned a BA (Hons) in Classical & Archaeological Studies from the University of Kent in 2014, graduating with First-class Honours. Subsequently, she completed a BSc (Hons) in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Dundee in 2022.

Currently Victoria serves as a Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing at ARU, where she is dedicated to integrating humanities into nursing education. She has incorporated elements of Ancient Greek philosophy into biosciences to inspire students through the humanities. As an autistic individual, Victoria is passionate about neurodiversity and founded the HeMS Neurodiverse Support Group.

This passion has motivated her to pursue a PhD in English Literature, focusing on speculative fiction as a lens to explore the experiences of neurodiverse women at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and mental health. Through feminist and queer narratology, her research analyses texts to challenge misdiagnosis and to promote nuanced narratives of resilience and empowerment.

Research interests
  • Speculative fiction as a lens for neurodiverse identity and empowerment
  • Intersectionality of gender, sexuality, and neurodiversity in literary narratives
  • Ethical and political implications of narrative voice and representation in mental health discourse
  • Magical metaphors and mythological archetypes as counter-narratives to psychiatric misdiagnosis
  • Feminist and queer narratology applied to speculative and fantasy literature
Qualifications
  • BSc (Hons) Mental Health Nursing: University of Dundee
  • PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (with Fellowship to Advanced HE)
  • BA (Hons) Classical and Archaeological Studies: University of Kent
Memberships, editorial boards
  • Nursing and Midwifery Council
  • Mental Health Nurse Academics UK
Selected recent publications

Grant-Cole, V, 2021. Students with autism spectrum disorder can be an asset to mental health nursing. Mental Health Nursing Student Special, pp. 10-11.

Recent presentations and conferences

Presented at Engage 2025 – The Magic Circle and Utilising Role Playing Games for Neurodiverse Students in HeMS.