Susan Levy is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Programme Director of Professional Doctorates at the University of Dundee.  She is a graduate of the London School of Contemporary Dance, and completed her MA (Hons), PhD and Post-Doctoral research in Geography at the University of St Andrews. She held academic posts at The University of Edinburgh and the Open University before moving into social work at the University of Dundee.   Her interdisciplinary background is applied to her research and teaching. 

Susan is a qualitative researcher, experienced in using participatory and creative methods to explore diverse lives, and a sense of belonging and place. Her research is situated in the following areas: 1) disability, gender and migration; 2) international social work and cultural diversity; and 3) the use of the arts and creativity for social change and communicating lived experiences.  Recent British Academy funding has led to her co-editing a Special Issue for Social Work Education: International Journal on 'New Directions in Social Work Education in Africa: Challenges and Prospects' (2022), and the Routledge Handbook on African Social Work Education (2023).   At a European level she is working on the Erasmus+ project, Experiential Knowledge in Higher Education: A New framework for Social Work and Nursing Education.

She supervises PhD and Professional Doctorate students and welcomes students with interests in pursuing a doctorate in areas that align with her research interests. 

For over four years Susan chaired the Athena SWAN/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and led a successful Departmental Athena SWAN Bronze Award in recognition of good practices in advancing gender equality in higher education.  During 2021, she was appointed to a Sub-Group of Advance HE's Athena SWAN Governance Committee. 

Susan is an Associate Editor of the European Journal of Social Work, Editor of Creative Works for the Review of Disability Studies: International Journal, and an Editorial Board member and reviewer for a number of journals.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and on the Board of Directors of Indepen-dance, an inclusive dance organisation based in Glasgow, Scotland.