After coming to Corpus to study French and Russian, Juliet struggled to settle but a chance conversation with a friend about her desire to pursue Psychology, something her teachers had led her to believe was not possible because of her A-level choices, led her to consult with Dr Gerard Duveen, Director of Studies for Social and Political Sciences, in a tiny room on Y staircase, and she recalls “that was that, I switched subject, and spent two years loving every second, of Social Psychology in particular.”

After Corpus, Juliet initially pursued a career as a mental health support worker in London but missed academic study. On Dr Duveen’s recommendation, she applied to the London School of Economics for an MSc in Social Psychology, upon completion of which she returned to Corpus to begin her PhD, again supervised by Dr Duveen.

“My experience back at Corpus during my PhD was fantastic. Gerard was no longer in the little room on Y staircase, and was instead in a very cluttered, very smoky room on D staircase. I learnt so much, not only about sociocultural psychology from him, but also about being an engaged and involved teacher and supervisor. And every day I would meet my fellow PhD students in the bar for lunch and we would compare notes and commiserate on whatever bit of our research had gone wrong that morning. I was MCR President during that time too and loved the community at Leckhampton.”

In 1999, Juliet was married to Jake Hallam (m1991) in Corpus Chapel by the Rev Mark Pryce. Two years later, as she finished her PhD, Juliet was admitted to the Fellowship as a Research Fellow in Social Psychology, and remained a Fellow at Corpus for the next 12 years.

Juliet is proud to say that she is the first woman to have been an undergraduate, postgraduate and Fellow at Corpus. From 2013-2018, Juliet was Senior Tutor at Murray Edwards College, and then moved to King’s College London. She is now a Professor of Social Psychology and works as Dean of Education at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s. She is also Academic Lead for Student Mental Health and Wellbeing for the University, and sees the roots of much of this in her time at Corpus.

“As a Fellow, I not only taught and did research, but I became increasingly involved in other aspects of College life, including being Admissions Tutor for a year, and then did schools liaison work; I also became a tutor in 2007. All of this was the start of my increasing focus on student mental health and wellbeing.’

“Still inspired by Gerard, I remain very committed to sociocultural approaches to psychology, and now teach them to students at King’s. I use what I started to learn as a tutor in my research and strategic work in student mental health, not only at King’s but also as an Assessor for the University Mental Health Charter. I collaborate with a lot of colleagues in France, so I’m even still using that French from my first two undergraduate years. And Jake and I have two daughters, so Corpus really was where so much of what is important in my life started.”