Christina Buse
Lecturer in Sociology and Social Psychology

Profile

Biography

• PhD in Sociology, University of York
• MSc Sociological Research, University of Manchester
• BA (Hons) Psychology/Sociology, Liverpool Hope University

I am a lecturer in Sociology and Social Psychology, and the researcher on the ESRC funded ‘Buildings in the Making’ project (running from August 2015 until July 2018), working with Sarah Nettleton (PI) and co-investigators Daryl Martin, Ellen Annandale, Sian Beynon Jones (York), Lindsay Prior (Queens Belfast) and Julia Twigg (Kent). 

After completing a degree in Sociology and Psychology in Liverpool, I then completed an MSc in Sociological Research in Manchester. My dissertation research explored the use pro-anorexia websites. I then went on to complete a PhD at the University of York, examining the use of information and communication technologies in retirement, and the location of technology use within ‘embodied techno-biographies’.

I have since worked as a researcher at the Universities of Leeds and Kent on various projects concerning the embodied health and social care needs of older people. My recent research includes the Dementia and Dress project with Julia Twigg, an ESRC funded study examining the significance of clothing and dress in the lives and experiences of people with dementia, their carers and care workers.

Research

Overview

Research interests include embodiment, ageing, dementia, material culture and technology use. My current research with Sarah Nettleton and colleagues on ‘Buildings in the Making’ aims to develop a sociological understanding of the practices of healthcare architects, focusing on the design of care homes for later life, and exploring how knowledge about health and social care is translated into the built environment.

I am co-organiser of the 'Materialities of Care'  research network with Daryl Martin, an interdisciplinary research network exploring material culture in the context of health and social care, following the event Materialities of Care: Encountering Health and Illness Through Objects, Artefacts, and Architecture supported by the Foundation for the Sociology of Health and Illness. This builds on previous research, including my recent research on ‘Dementia and Dress’ with Julia Twigg, which examined clothing and dress in relation embodiment, identity and personhood. Earlier research includes work on telecare and initiatives to support family carers.

My research has involved using innovative qualitative methods, including visual and sensory approaches, online ethnography, and ‘wardrobe interviews’. Current research on ‘Buildings in the Making’ will involve developing an ‘ethnography of practice’, incorporating a range of qualitative methods including observations, visual methods, documentary analysis, and qualitative interviews, including ‘walking interviews’.

Publications

Selected publications

Journal articles

Buse, C. and Twigg, J. (2015). Materializing memories: exploring the stories of people with dementia through dress. Ageing and Society, available on CJO2015. doi:10.1017/S0144686X15000185. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9696855&fileId=S0144686X15000185

Martin, D., Nettleton, S., Buse, C., Prior, L., and Twigg, J. (2015). Architecture and health care: a place for sociology. Sociology of Health and Illness, doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12284.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9566.12284/pdf

Buse, C. and Twigg, J. (2015). Clothing, embodied identity and dementia: maintaining the self through dress. Age, Culture, Humanities (special issue- Mirror, Mirror), available online:http://ageculturehumanities.org/WP/clothing-embodied-identity-and-dementia-maintaining-the-self-through-dress/.

Buse, C. and Twigg, J. (2014). Looking ‘out of place’: analysing the spatial and symbolic meanings of dementia care settings through dress. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 9(1): 69-95. http://www.ep.liu.se/ej/ijal/ijal_article.asp?DOI=10.3384/ijal.1652-8670.20149169

Buse, C. and Twigg, J. (2014). Women with dementia and their handbags: negotiating identity, privacy and ‘home’ through material culture. Journal of Aging Studies, 30(1), 14-22.

Twigg, J. and Buse, C.E. (2013). Dress, dementia and the embodiment of identity. Dementia, 12(3): 326-336.

Buse, C.E. (2010) E-scaping the ageing body? Computer technologies and embodiment in later life. Ageing and Society, 30(6): 987-1009.

Buse, C.E. (2009) When you retire, does everything become leisure? Information and communication technology use and the work/leisure boundary in retirement. New Media and Society, 11(7): 1-19.

Research reports and articles for practitioner audiences

Campbell, S., Buse, C., Twigg, J., Keady, J. and Ward, R. (2015). Appearance matters: it’s integral to our sense of self, Journal of Dementia Care, 23(2): 20-23.

Wigfield, A., Moore, S., Buse, C. and Fry, G. (2012). Workforce Development for Assisted Living Technology (ALT): Understanding Roles, Delivery and Workforce Needs. Available at:

http://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/workforce_strategy/assistedlivingtechnology/assisted_living_technology.aspx

 Buse, C. and Wigfield, A. (2011). Innovative approaches to engaging and involving carers in services and support. In S.Yeandle and A.Wigfield (eds.) New Approaches to Supporting Carers’ Health and Well-being: Evidence from the National Carers Strategy Demonstrator Sites Programme. Leeds: CIRCLE, University of Leeds.

Teaching

Undergraduate

I am currently teaching on the following modules:

• Introducing Social Psychology
• Critical perspectives on Social Psychology
• Contemporary Research in Social Psychology
• Introduction to Sociological Theory