Jane Duncan

Professor Jane Duncan is a Professor of Digital Society at the University of Glasgow and holds a British Academy Global Professorship. Previously, she was a Professor at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and held the Chair in Media and Information Society at the University Currently Known as Rhodes. She specializes in digital surveillance, media policy, and public oversight of intelligence agencies.

Education: Jane Duncan holds a PhD from the Wits School of the Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, along with MA, Honours, and BA degrees in Fine Arts from the same institution. Her career spans academia and civil society, including roles at the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) and community art centers.

Research interests focus on strengthening public oversight of intelligence-driven surveillance in Southern Africa. She has authored four books, including National Security Surveillance in Southern Africa: An Anti-Capitalist Critique (2022) and Stopping the Spies: Constructing and Resisting the Surveillance State in South Africa (2018). Her work bridges activism and academia, addressing state surveillance, protest rights, and media freedom.

Awards: In 2022, she received a B2 rating from the South African National Research Foundation for international recognition in research.

Grants: Notable projects include a two-year study on surveillance in Southern Africa (funded by Luminate and OSISA), research on privacy policies (IDRC-funded), and investigations into protest rights and media accountability (Open Society Foundation grants).

Teaching: She teaches global journalism, media policy, and research methodology at various academic levels. Supervision includes MA/PhD students focusing on youth activism, Ugandan journalism political economies, and media framing of protests.

Labs/Teams: Co-founded the Media Policy and Democracy Project (joint UJ/UNISA initiative), and previously co-directed the Highway Africa Centre promoting digital media in Africa.