Cristian obtained his psychology degree from the University of lasi, Romania. In 2005 he completed his doctoral thesis on nationalism and prejudice in talk about ethnic minorities in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Loughborough University. He lectured at the University of East London before returning to Loughborough in September 2008.
Academic career
- 2020 - : Reader in Social Psychology
- 2013 - 2020: Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology, Loughborough University.
- 2008 – 2013: Lecturer in Social Psychology, Loughborough University.
- 2006-2008: Lecturer in Psychology, University of East London.
Professional responsibilities
- 2018 – : Editorial board, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology.
- 2017 – : Editorial board, Journal of Romanian Studies.
- 2013 –: Editorial board, Qualitative Psychology (American Psychological Association).
- 2012 - : Editorial board, Journal of Social and Political Psychology.
- 2018 - : Book series editor (with Elizabeth Stokoe), Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology.
Cristian’s current research interests include:
Critical social psychology of racism
This research strand centres on promoting critical alternatives to analysing prejudice and racism in the public sphere. The central focus of this approach is on the discursive respecification of social and moral exclusion. Findings from this research strand have been published in Discourse & Society, British Journal of Social Psychology, Ethnicities, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, and as a monograph:The Nature of Prejudice: Society, Discrimination and Moral Exclusion (2015, Routledge).
Transitional justice and coming to terms with the communist past in Eastern Europe
This research strand focuses on:
- discourse analytic approaches to analysing lay and elite discourses around individual, social and political change after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Findings from this work have been published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, Culture & Psychology, Discourse & Society, Discourse & Communication, Qualitative Psychology, and as a monograph: Representing Communism after the Fall: Discourse, Memory, and Historical Redress (2018, Palgrave Macmillan).
- interdisciplinary approaches in transitional justice. A recent project funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, ‘New challenges for post-communist remembrance cultures: Interdisciplinary perspectives in transitional justice’, will enable a dialogue related to the political effectiveness and reach of transitional justice practices, programs, and methods. External partners on the project are the Imre Kertesz Institute (University of Jena, Germany), Sighet Museum and Civic Academy Foundation (Romania), and Polish Institute of National Remembrance (Poland).
Migration and population resilience in uncertain political times
This research strand takes an interdisciplinary approach to current thinking and policy-making around international migration that has left some of the most vulnerable groups unprotected. This strand brings together academics from Loughborough University (social policy, migration, public health) and external partners (Ruhama Foundation) to explore the social, psychological, welfare, and health resilience of Roma migrant populations, especially children and families. See a recent report on ‘Roma community perspectives on migration to the UK’ here.
Cristian's teaching examines issues in social and political psychology with a focus on social problems.
Current postgraduate research students
- Cintia Maria Fonseca Da Silva Huxter: "Rethinking intergroup encounters: Memory, dialogue, and reconciliation in Kosovo." Co-supervised by Elizabeth Mavroudi.
- Manuel Torres-Sahli: "Ageism and arguments supporting ageist practices in Chilean parliamentary discourse about later-life issues." Co-supervised by Elizabeth Peel.
- Annabel Evans: "People & place in contentious space: Housing as socio-spatial praxis." Co-supervised by Elizabeth Mavroudi and Aija Lulle.
- Rachel Sarah Armitage: "Sharing of misinformation and disinformation regarding Brexit on social media." Co-supervised by Martin Sykora and .
- Catherine Baker: "An investigation into the online misogynist Incel subculture." Co-supervised by Andrew Chadwick, Tom Jackson and Line Nyhagen.
Recent postgraduate research students
- Fabio Ferraz de Almeida (2018) "Police interviews with suspects in police stations in England."
- Salomea Ana Popoviciu (2018) "Framing ethnic disparities: An analysis of views about disparities between Roma and non-Roma People in Romania."
- Shani Burke (2017) "Expressing extreme views on Facebook: A discursive analysis."
- Mirko Demasi (2016) "Debating the European Union – Dynamics of ideological conflict in political debates."
- Tileagă, C., Aldridge, J., Popoviciu, S., Daragiu, M., Daragiu, L., Lumsden, K. (2019) Roma community perspectives on migration to the UK. ISBN 978-1-91121723-7.
- Tileagă, C. (2018) Representing Communism after the Fall: Discourse, Memory, and Historical Redress. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Tileagă, C. (2018) Discursive psychology and social practices of avoidance. In S. Gibson (Ed.) Discourse, Peace and Conflict: Discursive Psychology Perspectives(pp. 245-260). Cham, Switzerland: Springer
- Tileagă, C. (2016) Extending the Social Psychology of Racism: A Framework for Critical Analysis. In P. Hammack (Ed.) The Oxford Handbook of Social Psychology and Social Justice. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Tileagă, C. (2015) The Nature of Prejudice: Society, Discrimination and Moral Exclusion. London: Routledge.
- Tileagă, C. & Stokoe, E. (Eds.) (2015). Discursive psychology: Classic and Contemporary Issues. London: Routledge
- Tileagă, C. & Byford, J. (Eds.) (2014). Psychology and History: Interdisciplinary Explorations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- Tileagă, C. (2013). Political Psychology: Critical Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Some of Cristian’s key publications have been translated into Arabic, Spanish, Hungarian and Romanian.