RIASA Academic Directors & Staff

Paul Lloyd

RIASA Academic Director

After graduating from Leeds University with a BA in Communication Arts and Public Media, Paul worked for a time as a manager within the NHS, before retraining as a teacher in adult education, teaching a range of social studies subjects. He gained his MA in Education from Southampton and taught adult and further education teacher training courses for several years, developing an interest in leadership development.

He has also worked with a national youth organization in the development and delivery of a youth leadership development programme, and has taught many regional trainers to continue the development of the initiative.

Moving into Higher Education ten years ago, Paul has taken charge of two large student unions as General Manager, which included the management of both welfare and business operations and leading the transition of both organizations to registered charities. He has continued his interest in leadership development through work with the elected sabbatical officers and he is currently writing his doctoral thesis for Leeds University, examining the training and development of student union leaders.

Mara Nisdeo

RIASA Director of Academic Admissions and Recruitment

New York, USA
Languages: English / Italian
Email: mnisdeo@internationalasa.com

Work Experience/Education

Mara was born in Italy and spent her youth in Upstate New York. Upon completing her second year of undergraduate studies in the United States, Mara chose to continue her studies abroad, in Italy. Mara holds both a degree in Italian Language and Culture from L'Universita' per Stranieri di Perugia, obtained in 1995, and a Bachelor of Arts in Italian Studies from The American University of Rome (AUR), achieved in 1999. Prior to joining the Richmond Team in 2009, Mara served as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Administrator at AUR. Mara has travelled extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the United States, possesses dual citizenship in Italy and the United States and is fluent in both Italian and English.

Colin Howley

Adjunct Professor Richmond International Academic Soccer Academy

With an interdisciplinary academic background in American literature and cultural studies, Dr Howley has taught a wide variety of courses at several British Universities including the University of Sheffield and John Moores University.

Dr Howley's research interests focus upon the area of modern and contemporary African American cultural production Ð with a particular reference to sport, music and masculinities. He has published articles on Spike Lee and Hip-hop culture and was recently a specialist curator for a season of jazz films at the Showroom cinema in Sheffield. Currently, Dr Howley is preparing research from his doctoral thesis 'Of Hoop and Men: Blackness, Masculinity and Basketball in the Writings of John Edgar Wideman' for monograph application. He is also pursuing further research into the relationship between Modernism and contemporary African American fiction.

Dr Howley has presented research papers at national and international conferences including British Association of American Studies (BAAS) and the Sports Literature Association (SLA). He also holds a three-year Honorary Research Fellowship at the University of Sheffield.

Recent Conference Papers:

Apr. 2009 'Invisible Views': Blackness, Urban Bodies and Community in John Edgar Wideman's Two Cities: A Love Story British Association for American Studies annual conference, Nottingham.
May. 2006 '"Reconsidering Muscular Assimilation": Basketball, Race and Class in John Edgar Wideman's Brothers and Keepers' International Sporting Cultures Conference, Liverpool.
Apr. 2004 'Writing Hoop Dreams: Basketball and the Quest for the American Dream' British Association for American Studies annual conference, Manchester.
Jun. 2003 '"Ball and Chain": The Basketball Court and the Trope of the Prison Yard In Contemporary African American Narratives' Sports Literature Association annual conference, Springfield, MA.
Apr. 2002 '"In Your Face": African American Culture and the Aesthetics of Basketball In Contemporary American Fiction' British Association for American Studies annual conference, Oxford.

Lucia Morawska

Adjunct Professor Richmond International Academic Soccer Academy

Educated in the UK and Poland, I specialize in Modern European History and Anthropology. My PhD dissertation: : Lelov: cultural memory and a Jewish town. Investigating the identity of an ultra-orthodox society is due for submission shortly. It is planned to be published also as a non-academic work to become available to the wider public.

I also have a long-standing interest in the philosophy and critical thinking. Previously, I researched in the Philosophy of Dialogue and Jewish Mysticism, which resulted in my Masters Dissertation: Mystical and kabbalistic ideas in Martin Bubber's Philosophy of Dialogue. Role of the other and its linguistic creation. My BA degree has trained me to cover Social Sciences and Humanities and my subject specialism is History and History of Philosophy and Ethics with an elective in Cultural History. I have also studied Politics and Journalism in addition to these core subjects.

I taught at University of Huddersfield before coming to Richmond to lecture in World Cultural History and Introduction to Philosophy at IASA in Leeds.

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