email: BaumP@cf.ac.uk 

Polina Baum-Talmor

My PhD research project entitled: ‘Careers and Labour Market Flexibility in Global Industries: The case of seafarers’, focuses on the flexibilisation of labour among seafarers. Part of the SIRC-Nippon fellowship (2012-2016), I was generously funded by the Nippon Foundation throughout my studies.

A genuine interest in seafarers began after finishing the BA, after which I almost joined the maritime industry as a deck officer. However, the eagerness of pursuing an academic education as well as contributing to seafarers’ welfare resulted in embarking on the study of seafarers as my main research subject. After attending the SIRC symposium at Cardiff University in July 2011, I applied for the SIRC-Nippon fellowship and got accepted.

In 2013, I obtained an MSc (Masters’ of Science) diploma in SSRM (Social Sciences Research Methods) with merit, from Cardiff University.

In 2012, I attained an M.A. (Master of Arts) degree in Anthropology at the University of Haifa (Israel), with distinction, for which I have been studying between the years 2010-2012, majoring in the qualitative study of seafarers. The title of the Masters’ dissertation is: 'From sea to shore: An ethnographic account of seafaring experience'.

In 2009, I completed a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) degree in Sociology, Anthropology and Human Resources at the University of Haifa (Israel), for which I have been studying between the years 2005-2009.

I have over three years’ experience as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Haifa (Israel). As a teaching assistant, I have taught undergraduate students in: ‘Introduction to Anthropology’ (2010); ‘Introduction to anthropology’ (2011); ‘Qualitative methods’ (2011-2012); as well as Masters students in ‘Qualitative Methods- introduction’ (2012).

I have been volunteering as a ship visitor on behalf of the AoS (Apostleship of the sea) between 2013-2017. I have visited over 80 ships in Cardiff Port, meeting seafarers from different backgrounds and trying to improve their wellbeing on board. In the past, I used to work as a social counsellor for new immigrants who arrived in Israel from various countries (for two years). Prior to that, I was a social instructor for teenagers in a youth center (for two years). I was born in Latvia, and my family moved to Israel in the early 1990s when I was eight years old. I speak Russian (full professional proficiency), Hebrew (native language), English (full professional proficiency), Spanish (basic) and Arabic (basic).

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