Nina Wakeford

Dr Nina Wakeford has had a long history of collaboration with PAPR and Intel Research, having received two AIM grants in the field of the social studies of technology (sponsored by Genevieve Bell).

She founded and continues to lead a research group (INCITE) that has conducted studies in the context of new technology development, including collaborative work with Sapient, FXPal and British Telecom, as well as leading an investigative "mission" on best practice in user-centred design for the UK government.

Teaching

Research interests

Nina has played an active role in the Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference (EPIC), and has regularly presented papers at both academic and industry-led events. She has just completed a three-year Fellowship funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council in which she looked at the translations of social science knowledge and methodologies into other fields, and the knowledge making practices that academic social science might adapt from commercial settings.

Previous research projects have included studies of internet cafes, women's discussions lists and the use of ethnography by new technology designers.

Selected publications

Amongst her publications are papers on virtual methodologies, queer identities, digital communities and public internet access provision.

"Pushing at the boundaries of New Media Studies" New Media & Society. 6(1), (Special Fifth Anniversary Issue: What's Changed About New Media?) 2004

"The embedding of local culture in global communication: independent internet cafes in London" New Media & Society. 5(3), 2003, 379-399

"A social history of the mobile phone with a view to its future" (with Lochoee, H & Pearson, I) British Telecom Technology Journal 21 (3) Special Issue: Telecoms Unplugged. July 2003, 203-211

"Working with new Media's Cultural Intermediaries: The development of collaborative projects at INCITE" Information, Communication and Society 6(2) 2003, 229-245