Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Dr Chris Till
Senior Lecturer
Chris teaches core and specialist modules on social theory, technologies and health and is motivated to help students understand and work with sociological ideas and methods through engaging critically with theories, concepts and evidence and developing their own voices.
Chris' work has covered the political economy of self-tracking, Spotify's datafication and financialization of exercise, online mis- and dis-information and vegan social media activism. This research is unified by a theoretical interest in "technologies" of various kinds and how these frame social life, intersect with political economy and seek to influence behaviour.
Chris is interested in supervising PhD projects with a focus related to the above areas.
Prior to working at Leeds Beckett, Chris worked at the University of Sheffield and conducted postgraduate study and worked at University of Leeds.
Current Teaching
- Sociology, Capitalism & Modernity
- Technologies, Health & Bodies
Research Interests
Recent research has investigated the datafication of health and exercise by self-tracking technologies (eg. Fitbit) and music streaming services (eg. Spotify) and how this intertwines with processes of financialization. Related work has explored the use of self-tracking in corporate wellness initiatives.
Chris has also developed a new theorisation of online mis- and dis-information to include the ways in which all internet users are implicated or mobilised in their spread.
Chris is currently leading a British Academy/Leverhulme funded project which explores the use of image, audio and video in vegan activism on Instagram and TikTok.
Ask Me About
- Veganism
- Self-tracking
- Music streaming
- Financialization
- Corporate wellness
- Misinformation
- Disinformation
- Economics
- Exercise and physical activity
- Health
- Marketing
- Social Media
- Sociology