Stacey Rand

It was such a pleasure for my latest Nostalgia Interview to catch up with Stacey Rand. Stacey has been at Kent for around a decade where she is a senior researcher in PSSRU, a research unit focusing on social care and community based services. Stacey is also a priest in the Church of England.

Stacey’s first degree was in natural sciences and she ended up specializing in neuroscience, and has also worked in the pharmaceutical industry. She talks about the journey towards ordination, about the relationship between utilitarianism and Christianity and the diverse range of backgrounds of those training for ministry. We also find out what has tended to happen when she wears a clerical collar when travelling on the bus.

Stacey was born in Enfield and grew up in Hertfordshire and she talks about how she loved being outdoors as a child. Faith didn’t play such a big role when growing up but the interest/curiosity here developed in her time studying at Cambridge, and she was later baptised as an adult.

She discusses her musical tastes and having had piano lessons which opened up a world of classical music and early music on the recorder. Stacey is also a member of the University of Kent Chorus.

We talk about adapting to doing things differently due to the pandemic, e.g. in terms of data collection, and how she was fortunate to have had something of a head start in terms of lockdown via prior experience of working remotely.

Her 5 year old self thought she would either be a pop star or a librarian and we discover how Stacey got into natural sciences but nearly ended up following a career in law. We talk about the unexpected impacts of research, and Stacey discusses the importance of keeping one day a week clear from work.

Then, towards the end of the interview we talk about the role of looking back and the relationship between positive and negative memories. Stacey talks about the comfort provided by the Book of Job because of how it confronts suffering face on, and Stacey discusses how looking back and looking forward often go hand in hand.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Stacey Rand and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.