David Gauntlett – (Co-convenor (with Paul Sweetman))
Paul Sweetman (Co-convenor (with David Gauntlett))
Charlotte Bates (Postgraduate Issues)
Marc Bush (Ordinary Committee Member)
Andrew Loxley (Publicity and Events)
Terence Heng (Webmaster and Membership)
Poonam Madar (Publicity and Events)
Dr Carol Wolkovitz (Ordinary Committee Member)

Prof David Gauntlett David Gauntlett is Professor of Media and Communications in the School of Media , Arts and Design, University of Westminster . His teaching and research is in the area of media and identities, and the everyday creative use of digital media. He is the author of several books, including Moving Experiences (1995, 2005), Web Studies (2000, 2004), Media, Gender and Identity (2002, 2008), and Creative Explorations: New approaches to identities and audiences (2007), which was shortlisted for the Times Higher Young Academic Author of the Year Award. He produces the popular website about media and identities, Theory.org.uk, and has sought to develop the use of creative and visual research methods, for which he has created the hub at ArtLab.org.uk. D.Gauntlett@westminster.ac.uk See: http://www.theory.org.uk/david – David Gauntlett page with links to books and projects http://www.theory.org.uk – Theory.org.uk website about media and identity http://www.artlab.org.uk – Artlab.org.uk website about new creative methods

Dr Paul Sweetman is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the Division of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Southampton, and co-editor - with Caroline Knowles - of Picturing the Social Landscape: Visual Methods and the Sociological Imagination (Routledge, 2004). He teaches second and third year courses on the body and fashion, and an MSc course on classical and contemporary social theory. He has published articles and chapters on fashion, habitus, body modification, subcultures, and cultural studies, and has recently been contracted to write a book on Culture for Sage. Paul is a former member of the Sociology Editorial Board. His research interests as a whole centre around questions of culture; reflexivity and habitus; the body, identity, fashion and consumption; and visual methods of social research. Paul.Sweetman@soton.ac.uk | http://www.socsci.soton.ac.uk/sociology/people/

Charlotte Bates Charlotte Bates is currently studying for a PhD in Visual Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her first degree was in Philosophy and her Masters was in Philosophy and Mental Health. Her current research is about bodies in sociology, sickness and everyday life. She is on the steering group for the ESRC Building Capacity in Visual Methods Researcher Development Initiative at the University of Leeds and assists with the ESRC Live Sociology Researcher Development Initiative at Goldsmiths. c.bates@gold.ac.uk

Marc Bush is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey. His research interests are based around aspiration and Asperger Syndrome. He has published on and trained others in the use of visual social research methods; especially in relation to children and young people. Much of his work is concerned with how innovative technologies can be used empower children and young people to talk about their experiences and how those voices can be used to actualise social change. Through his work with the Labour Party, Marc have been advocating the use of visual technologies to engage with young people and put their voices at the heart of policy making. M.Bush@surrey.ac.uk

Terence Heng is a doctoral student at Goldsmiths College, University of London, prior to which he was a lecturer at the Centre for Culture and Communication, Republic Polytechnic in Singapore. He holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Nottingham, an MSc in Management Research from the University of Oxford and a Licentiateship of the Royal Photographic Society. His research interests are primarily in the framing and reframing of traditional ethnic rituals in modern society, with a special focus on ethnic Chinese weddings in Singapore, as well as virtual and visual ethnographies. Terence has published one book - From Where I'm Standing (2004) - a collection of poetry exploring modern urban life in Singapore and the United Kingdom, and has worked extensively as a professional photographer and new media producer. terence.heng@visualsociology.org.uk | heng.hurricadia.org

Dr Andrew Loxley is Director of Teaching and Learning (Postgraduate) in the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences Trinity College Dublin. He is based in the School of Education where he teaches sociology of education and research methodology. Since 2005 he has been a board member of the International Visual Sociology Association and organised the 2005 conference which was held in Dublin . He undertook his PhD at the University of Bath which was a study into the impact of quasi-marketisation on inclusion and primary schooling. Much of his research and publications centre on the issue of social inclusion and social policy. This is reflected in his visually oriented work which explores the relationship between visual culture, space and education and the way in which it shapes and influences our experience of these institutions. A firm believer in the use of mixed methods approaches, his research employs the use of both researcher and participant generated images. The most recent being a study exploring the experiences of mature undergraduate students within Irish university context.

Poonam Madar is an ESRC 1+3 student in CRER (Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations) at the University of Warwick. Her areas of interest lie in qualitative methodology and the Sociology of Race and Racism. Previous to this, she completed her MSc in Sociology at the University of Bristol.

Dr Carol Wolkowitz is a Reader in the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick. Her research has involved a number of different areas of gender studies. She has a long-standing interest in gender in Indian history and politics, stemming from her doctoral research on women politicians' careers in South India. Since then much of her work has focused on gender and employment. She is co-author of two books on homeworking and home-located work, Homeworking Women: Gender, Class and Racism at Work (1995) and Homeworking: Myths and Realities (1987). In 2006 she published Bodies at Work (Sage), exploring 'body work' and the relation between embodiment, gender and the labour process. Her other publications include the Glossary of Feminist Theory (1997), with Terry Lovell and Sonya Andermahr, and several articles exploring the use of personal narratives to understand women's roles in the American communities established by the Manhattan Project during the Second World War. She was also co-editor of Of Marriage and the Market: Women's Subordination in International Perspective (1981 and 1985).