David Dobson
Research Associate

Profile

Biography

David completed his PhD in the Department of Sociology at The University of Manchester in 2023, where he explored the role of secrecy, lies, and intimacy in heterosexual relationships where one partner is living with dementia.

Following from this he worked as a Research Associate, also at Manchester, on a pilot project called ‘Air Space: Creating a Community-Integrated Network of Interdisciplinary Research on Socio-Atmospherics’.

Throughout his time at Manchester he was a member of The Morgan Centre for Research Into Everyday Lives, a centre of excellence for research in the fields of personal life, relationships, and everyday life, and for developing innovate methodologies for researching the subtleties and complexities of contemporary lives and socialities. Through this work David developed a keen interest in creative, arts based, and ethnographic methods, specifically when collaborating with community based/non-academic partners.

David is currently working with Dr Christina Buse on the ‘My home, My Garden Story’ project, exploring the changing role of domestic gardens in the everyday lives of people living with dementia.

Research

Overview

My research interests include:

• Dementia
• Intimacy
• Secrecy
• Relational citizenship
• Creative methods 

Publications

Selected publications

• Fletcher, J., Deng, M., & Dobson, D. (2023). The art of friendliness: Organiser perspectives on curating dementia friendly cultural events. Dementia, 22(4), 743-759.