Emily Nicholls
Senior Lecturer

Profile

Biography

After graduating with a degree in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Leeds and  Masters in Gender Research from Newcastle University, I completed my PhD in Sociology at Newcastle University in 2015, focusing on the 'girls' night out'. I was also employed as a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, working on a project on footwear and identity in collaboration with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. Later in 2015 I was appointed as a Lecturer – and later Senior Lecturer – in Sociology at the University of Portsmouth, where I was also the Sociology Course Leader and School lead for admissions, recruitment and outreach. I joined the University of York as a Lecturer in Sociology in April 2021. I am currently a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Chair of the Department Education Committee (Undergraduate).

My research and teaching interests include gender and identity (specifically femininities); the sociology of (non)consumption (specifically relating to alcohol, sobriety and veganism) and the Night Time Economy. My first monograph on the ‘girls’ night out’ was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2019. My recent research includes work on women’s experiences of early sobriety and a project funded by the Institute of Alcohol Studies on the marketing and consumption of No and Low Alcohol (NoLo) drinks.

More recently, I am involved in work exploring the accessibility and availability of NoLos in hospitality venues  and a project on the consumption of plant-based meat substitutes and alternative proteins, funded by the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre.

Departmental Roles

• Deputy Chair of the Department Education Committee (Undergraduate)

Research

Overview

I am an experienced qualitative researcher and my research interests include gender and identity (specifically femininities); the sociology of (non)consumption (specifically relating to alcohol, sobriety and veganism) and the Night Time Economy.

My recent research includes a project funded by the Institute of Alcohol Studies exploring the ways in which alcohol-free products are marketed and consumed. This research has been shared with government bodies and departments in England, Scotland and Ireland and informed national consultations around the marketing and labelling of 'no and low' alcohol products. I am currently working on a project exploring the accessibility and availability of NoLos in hospitality venues.

I am also a Partner Investigator on an Australian Research Council-funded project exploring social practice approaches to reducing alcohol consumption amongst midlife women.

I am currently working on a project with an industry partner (a leading brand in the plant-based meat industry) to explore perceptions and barriers around plant-based meat and alternative protein sources. This builds on our recent work around perceptions of 'health' and health messaging in relation to plant-based meat.

Publications

Selected publications

• Nicholls, E. (2026). ‘Hiding the Label’:‘Passing’as Drinkers and Reinforcing Drinking Norms Through no and Low Alcohol Consumption in Social Settings. Drug and Alcohol Review, 45(2), e70102.
• Nicholls, E. (2025). “A sporty, healthy twist?”: Interrogating the deployment of health and wellness discourses in No and Low alcohol (NoLo) marketing and consumer practices. Journal of Marketing Management, 41(7-8), 734-759.
• Nicholls, E. (2024). “More than just a vehicle for getting drunk”: class, (serious) leisure and the discerning ‘No and Low’ craft beer drinker. Leisure Sciences, 1-18.
• Nicholls, E. (2023). “I don't want to introduce it into new places in my life”: The marketing and consumption of no and low alcohol drinks. International Journal of Drug Policy, 119, 104149.
• Nicholls, E. (2023). ‘Not Just Living in the Moment’: Constructing the ‘Enterprising’ and Future-Oriented Self Through the Consumption of No-and-Low-Alcohol Drinks. Sociological Research Online, 13607804231191063.
• Atkinson, A., Nicholls, E., Meadows, B. and Sumnall, H. (2023). ‘Some days I am a lunatic that thinks I can moderate’: Amalgamating recovery and neo-liberal discourses within accounts of non-drinking among women active in the ‘positive sobriety’ community on Instagram in the UK. International Journal of Drug Policy, 112, 103937.
• Nicholls, E. (2021). Sober rebels or good consumer-citizens? Anti-consumption and the ‘enterprising self’ in early sobriety. Sociology, 55(4), 768-784.

Teaching

Overview

I teach across primarily undergraduate modules in the broad areas of the sociology of human/animal relationships and gender/sexuality (particularly in relation to crime). I also teach sociological theory and supervise undergraduate dissertations. 

Supervision

I currently supervise six PhD students, three of whom hold an ESRC White Rose studentship.

Current students:

• Mia Westrap: Intuitive Eating communities in a neoliberal, postfeminist context
• Maddy French: Embodied experiences of infertility and endometriosis
• Holly Nelson: The gendered commodification of rest
• Kit Towner: An ethnographic digital exploration of the discourse on trans rights
• Sarah Robinson: Affected others' experiences of gambling harms
• Gurinderpal Mann: Representations of gender in the Punjabi music industry 

Supervised to completion:

• Sheila Pryce-Brooks: Sleep paralysis as a spiritual phenomenon
• Alex Arthur-Hastie: Empowerment, identity and contemporary witchcraft

I am interested in hearing from applicants who want to work on alcohol, drinking or sobriety; plant-based diets and veganism and more generally on areas at the intersections of gender, post-feminism and (non)consumption.

External Activity

Overview

I am co-director of the international and interdisciplinary Drinking Studies Network and a member of the British Sociological Association alcohol study group and consumption study group.

I am currently External Examiner at the University of Warwick, and a member of the International Editorial Board for Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy.