Nick Nel

My research examines the historic evolution of the social representations of death in public discourse, with particular interest paid to social memory and postmodernist perceptions of death through new media. Death is an inevitable certainty, yet the ways in which we approach and cope with this unescapable process can differ immensely based on our exposure and involvement in community and support groups. In this context, I will be utilising digital ethnography as a means to study and determine the impact social media plays upon coping with death and the ways in which death is imagined, perceived, expressed, and represented. At present, there is a distinct lack of literature exploring the ways in which people cope and understand the ramifications of death through a postmodernist perspective. This research will fill that void and allow for greater awareness of the impact new media has on coping with and perceiving death.

I joined the University of Brighton as a PhD student in May 2022. I hold a BA in Social Anthropology from the University of Kent and subsequently a Master of Research (MRes) in Anthropology from Brunel University London, where my dissertation focussed on identity constitution. The ethnographic research centralised around the ways in which routines and values were created, instilled and maintained through the habitus on the isolated island of Portland.

Between 2012 and 2016 I taught Social Science and Humanities based subjects in various inner-city schools in London. In 2016 and 2017 I also worked as a researcher and education officer at the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), London, where I produced ethnographic study materials for universities, organised London Anthropology Day at the British Museum promoting the Anthropology A Level and partook in shortlisting for the RAI Film Festival, as well as proof reading journal articles prior to publication. Between 2017 and 2019, I was a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Head of The A Levels Centre at East Sussex College in Eastbourne.

Since then, I have been working in education management at local government level, undertaking quantitative and qualitative research to ensure the sustainability of the education offering in Luton. This has included project managing new school developments, working within the democratic process to produce consultations and official council reports as well as managing information sharing agreements and data protection guidelines.