Mimi Tatlow-Golden promoted to Professor

Dr Mimi Tatlow-Golden has been promoted to Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies of Childhood and Youth. Her research centres on issues of contemporary consequence for childhood and youth and their impact on well-being, examining the self, schooling, food, and fun. To do so she critiques existing adult ideas about of childhood and youth, integrating psychology and childhood studies and developing tools and practices that enhance children/young people's rights.

Following a career as a food writer and journalist in Ireland, Professor Tatlow-Golden returned to higher education to study for a PhD in psychology. She then researched and lectured for ten years in Dublin on psychology, mental health and children's wellbeing, before joining The Open University in 2016. Mimi is now Co-Director of the Centre for Children and Young People's Wellbeing, and Co-Director of RUMPUS, a research group which explores fun in learning and other domains.

Interdisciplinarity is fundamental to her work, advocating for holistic frameworks to bridge knowledge from psychology and childhood and youth studies. This has also transformed the OU’s curriculum, engaging students with contemporary and fresh research, policy and practice insights. Professor Tatlow-Golden is the module chair for An Introduction to childhood studies and child psychology (E104) which and co-editor of An Introduction to Childhood and Youth Studies and Psychology (Routledge, 2023),  reflecting her interest in ‘dialoguing across difference’ to better understand and illuminate childhoods worldwide.

Commenting on her promotion, Professor Tatlow-Golden said:

“It takes many people to make a Professor. At the OU, in the Childhood and Youth team and beyond, my colleagues’ support, insights, patience, clever thoughts and sense of fun make all the difference. I am grateful for all the support I’ve had and am already enjoying paying this one forward.”

Much of Professor Tatlow-Golden’s work examines children and young people's understanding of food, food brands, and food advertisements, and food marketing in digital media. She was a member of the Global Steering Committee on digital food advertising for the World Health Organization (WHO) and is an expert advisor for WHO, UNICEF and the EU on food marketing. In 2016, she led on a major World Health Organization report addressing these issues, and has called for global restrictions in the marketing of unhealthy food to children.  

Professor Tatlow-Golden currently supervises PhD students examining constructions and experiences of fun in formal and informal learning, and welcomes queries from potential doctoral students in the fields of fun, food, learning, and digital media.