Nete Schwennesen

Nete Schwennesen is a Professor in the Department of People and Technology at Roskilde University, Denmark, affiliated with the Health and Society Research Group. Her research critically examines how digital technologies reconfigure care arrangements across nursing homes, dementia wards, diabetes clinics, and rehabilitation centers, intersecting technological imaginations with practical care work and everyday lives.

Her academic credentials include a PhD in Medical Science and Technology Studies from the University of Copenhagen (2011), a Cand.scient.soc. from Sociologisk Institut (2004), and an MA in Contemporary Sociology from Lancaster University (2001). Prior positions encompass Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen (2018-2022), Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Copenhagen (2015-2018), and Researcher at the Steno Center for Sundhedsfremme (2010-2015).

Employing ethnographic fieldwork grounded in medical sociology/anthropology and science and technology studies, Schwennesen investigates posthuman perspectives on health where materiality and more-than-human actors (e.g., animals, digital systems) actively shape care practices. Her work reveals how welfare state structures co-constitute health experiences while challenging human-centric frameworks through more-than-human entanglements.

• Digital Health and Care Technologies
• Medical Sociology and Anthropology
• Science and Technology Studies (STS)
• Posthumanism in Health
• Aging and Later Life Transitions
• Welfare State and Health Policy

Analysis of her 44 research outputs (2023-2025) shows persistent focus on aging-care-technology intersections, with emerging trends in human-animal relationships in eldercare, infection prevention complexities in institutional settings, and welfare state metabolism. Her publications bridge STS theory with empirical studies across Denmark’s care infrastructure, emphasizing material-semiotic dynamics in health practices.

Schwennesen actively contributes to academic discourse through review committee memberships at the University of Copenhagen and Aalborg University, conference participation (e.g., Society for Social Studies of Science 2021), and media engagement including 2025 coverage on healthier residential environments and 2024 analysis of office dogs as social catalysts.

As core faculty in Roskilde University’s Health and Society Research Group, she cultivates interdisciplinary collaborations examining how technological imaginaries materialize in care work, with recent projects exploring canine companionship in aging transitions and pandemic-era nursing home adaptations.