University of Kent

Post-Doc, School of Anthropology and Conservation

Eliot College

Thesis Title: Urban Firewalls: place, space and new technologies in Figueres, Catalonia

About

I am a social anthropologist and ethnographer investigating technology, change and the socio-cultural impacts of the digital age. My work is primarily aimed at understanding people’s everyday computing practices, interactions and activities on the Internet, through social media and via mobile devices. As a social researcher, I explore people and their relationships to each other and to machines to extrapolate contextualized conclusions about their technological choices, behaviors and aspirations.

I believe that humans are innately technological and that technology is inevitably human. Hardware and software are collaborative products of the people who conceptualize, design and build them as well as those who accept, reject, use, hack or even disregard these innovations. Through personalization, electronic devices become extensions of their users and, increasingly, constitute digital maps of their social worlds. The social web and related developments of our present era have thrown this idea into sharp relief, making them central to my anthropological studies.

I hold a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Kent, United Kingdom. My primary research interests are new communication technologies and digital anthropology, including ethnographic approaches to the Internet, mobile phones and computing.

I have taught on the following modules at the University of Kent: 'Computing for Social Anthropologists', 'Ethnicity and Nationalism', and 'Introduction to Social Anthropology'. I support the innovative use of new technologies and multimedia in learning and teaching, including collaborative coursework, wikis, blogs, social networks, e-conferencing, photo- and video-sharing.

My doctoral thesis, "Urban Firewalls: place, space and new technologies in Figueres, Catalonia", analyzes the impact of information and communication technologies in a Catalan town with reference to national identity, language politics, immigration, multiculturalism and modernity. I explore “online” and “offline” communication practices alongside concepts of space and boundary-making to elucidate how the Internet is indelibly tied to place-based realities and identities.

I am also an administrator of the Open Anthropology Cooperative http://openanthcoop.ning.com, an initiative comprising a growing network of researchers (currently over 5,300 members) committed to collaboration and engagement with other anthropologists, ethnographers and enthusiasts.

My other research interests include: consumption, urban anthropology, (northern) Mediterranean societies, Spain, Catalonia, ethnicity, nationalism, immigration, minority language/cultural politics, the internet, digital anthropology research and methods, mobile technology and portable computing, computer programming (incl. open source), user interface design and aesthetics, blogs, online social networking, lifestyle technology, and anthropological ethics.

I welcome new contacts interested in anthropology and technology as well as interdisciplinary collaboration.

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