Heather A. Horst

Professor Heather A. Horst serves as the Director of the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University. As a sociocultural anthropologist, she has established herself as a leading scholar in digital anthropology, with extensive research on material culture and the mediation of social relations through digital media and technology. Her directorship of this prominent research institute positions her at the forefront of cultural studies in the Australian academic landscape.

Her educational background includes a PhD in Anthropology from University College London (2004), an MA in Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1999), and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota (1996). This robust foundation across multiple prestigious institutions has informed her innovative approaches to studying digital cultures across diverse geographical contexts.

Professor Horst's research spans multiple domains within digital anthropology, with particular focus on mobile communication technologies, digital media practices, and their cultural implications. Her work often examines how digital technologies mediate social relations across different cultural contexts, with significant attention to Pacific Island perspectives. She has conducted extensive research on mobile phones in Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and more recently in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, exploring how these technologies shape social networks, economic practices, and cultural identities. Her scholarship consistently bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical fieldwork, contributing foundational texts like 'Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practices' that have become essential references in the field.

Her recent publications reveal a clear trajectory toward examining digital technologies in the Global South, with increasing attention to issues of data sovereignty, algorithmic governance, and fashion technologies. There's a noticeable shift from foundational work on mobile communication to more complex examinations of digital infrastructure, automated decision-making systems, and the cultural politics of emerging technologies like 5G and AI in diverse contexts. This evolution reflects her commitment to addressing contemporary technological challenges through culturally grounded anthropological perspectives.

• Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society: Node at Western Sydney University [Via RMIT] (2020-2027)
• Workshop for Project 'Building the evidence base on the impacts of mobile financial services for women and men in farming households' (2022-2023)
• Community Cohesive Collective Trust Project (2022)

Professor Horst has established the Data Ethnographies Lab, which focuses on understanding everyday relationships with digital data through ethnographic approaches. Her research team explores how people navigate data practices in their daily lives, with particular attention to issues of trust, privacy, and the material aspects of digital existence across diverse cultural contexts.