Profile

Biography

• PhD (Loughborough)
• BA (Loughborough)

Departmental roles

• SATSU 'Brown Bag' seminars (organiser)
  A weekly opportunity for presentations from the SATSU staff and students, as well invited members of other institutions, working on areas relevant to Science and Technology Studies.
• MSc in Social Media and Interactive Technologies
  Course co-ordinator, supervisor
• MSc in Social Media and Management
  Course co-ordinator, supervisor
  

Research

Overview

• Human-computer interaction
• Health, urban transport and intelligent communication systems
• Social informatics

Darren's background is in the area of ethnomethodology (EM), Conversation Analysis (CA), Reflexivity and Internet communication. His PhD, at Loughborough University, was an Ethnomethodological analysis of 'newsgroup' interaction, that used the analysis to reflect back on the conceptual foundations of EM and CA.

Over the past few years Darren has looked to combine Science and Technology Studies and Human Computer Interaction and has split his time between Sociology, Psychology and Computer Science. His interests include mundane interaction with technologies in broad social contexts, as well as the study of digital technologies in everyday life that incorporates people’s history of experiences and expectations. His primary concerns are with Social Informatics and Social Computing.

Darren has been working in a variety of areas including:

• Inclusive design
  An area interested in promoting the design of everyday technology devices that are attractive and can be used by older people. He has recently completed an extended literature review for the Inclusive Digital Economy Network, and EPSRC funded network convened by Professor Alan Newell at Dundee University.
• Transport management and information computer systems
  The BLISS project, funded by the ESRC, studied the installation of a bus priority and passenger information system in York, and combined Human Computer Interaction and Science and Technology Studies to form an analysis of the sociotechnical character of the system.
• Assistive technology
  As a member of CUHTec, he carried out work that included studying the use of telephone conferencing systems by charitable organisations to support socially isolated individuals. Darren is especially interested in the development of common place technologies such as the telephone to support isolated elderly individuals.

Current projects

Currently he is developing a conceptual framework that combines Science and Technology Studies with Discourse Analysis and Identity construction, that has a preliminary title of the 'Performativity of Technology and Age Identity' . This conception also draws on performance theory, inspired by Darren's earlier career as a performer. It is also relevant to the production of professionally scripted video performances, that formed one of the outputs of the Inclusive Digital Economy Network, and an ongoing interest in the use of theatre to communicate the design requirements of older users.

Recently Darren has become a member of the Anomalous Experience Research Unit (AERU) in the Department of Sociology, which studies the co-production of 'talk' and interaction in parapsychological situations. Darren is particularly interested in the way video episodes, typically posted on public forums such as YouTube, are used as a means to convey the authenticity of such instances as communicating with the dead in a spiritualist church. Such interests connect with the 'performativity' of technology mentioned above and connect back to the early work on internet communication.

Publications

Selected publications

• On the globalisation of crime: the Internet and new criminality', in Yvonne Jewkes and Majid Yar, eds., Handbook of Internet Crime (Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing, 2010), pp. 38-66.
  
• Reed, D.J. & Monk, A., (forthcoming) Inclusive Design: Beyond Capabilities Towards Context of Use, UAIS special issue on Innovations in User Sensitive Design, Research and Development.
• Reed, D.J., (2009), Observing and Quoting Newsgroup Messages: Method and Phenomenon in the Hermeneutic Spiral, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
• Reed, D.J., (2009) Notes towards an Inclusive Digital Economy. INCLUDE 2009. Inclusive design into innovation: transforming practice in design, research and business. Royal College of Art, London, UK 5-8 April 2009.
• Reed, D.J. & Webster, A.J. (2009), Handbook of Research on E-Planning: ICTs for Urban Development and Monitoring, in C Nunes Silva (ed), Architectures of motility: ICT systems, Transport and Planning for Complex Urban spaces.
• Fearon, K. & Reed, D., (2009), Second Life for Teaching and Learning, Poster presentation Learning and Teaching conference, University of York, 10th June 2009.
• Reed, D., (2009), Designing for Non-Users, Client-Centred Technology for Healthy Ageing. One day workshop, York UK, 20 April, 2009.
• Reed, D. J. (2009) The Performativity of a Volunteer-based Telecare Service, in B. Loader (Ed.), Digital Welfare For The Third Age. Routledge.
• Reed, D.J., (2008), Acting Your Age in Second Life, Fun n' Games, 2008.
• Light, A., Blythe, M. & Reed, D., (2007) Defamiliarising Design, Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal.
• Light, A., Blythe, M., & Reed, D. J. (2007) Defamiliarising Design. International Conference on Design Principles & Practices.
• Monk, A. & Reed, D.J., (2007) Telephone conferences for fun: experimentation in people's homes, HOIT 07.
• Lewis, G., Reed, D.J. & , (2007) Science Blogs: Experimenting with Practice and Performance. Toward a Social Science of Web 2.0 conference, York 5-6 September.
• Reed DJ. (2007) Report into a telephone-based support initiative for older people.
• Webster, A. & Reed, D., (2007) Transport for the mobility impaired. CSAU seminar, Department for Transport, Use of ICT in enhancing public transport mobility: from impaired mobility to motility.

External activities

Memberships

• Centre for Usable Home Technology (CUHTec)
  Member
• Digital Recording of Lectures (DROL) committee
  Member

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Introduction to Social Psychology
• Classical Sociological Theory

Postgraduate

• Contemporary Social Informatics