Helen Kennedy

Professor Helen Kennedy is a leading scholar in digital society at the School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations, University of Sheffield. She holds the title of Professor of Digital Society and is Director of the £4 million ESRC Digital Good Network. A Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) and the Academy of Social Sciences (FacSS), her work bridges academia and public policy through collaborations with the BBC, DWP, and international media organizations.

Her educational background includes a BA in English and American Studies from the University of Birmingham, an MA in Cultural Studies from the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS), and a PhD from the University of East London (2002) on digital identity and multimedia.

Helen's research centers on digital inequality, datafication, algorithmic culture, data ethics, and public engagement with data. She investigates how non-expert publics experience and interpret data, visualizations, and AI, with a focus on fairness, transparency, and resistance. Her work also examines data visualization in society, particularly in news media, and the emotional and cultural dimensions of data engagement.

Her recent publications reveal a consistent trend in exploring public perceptions of data practices, the politics of data visualization, and ethical dimensions of data use across journalism, public services, and digital platforms. Themes include trust, fairness, emotion, and the socio-political shaping of data systems.

• Fellow of the British Academy (FBA)
• Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FacSS)

Helen has led numerous major grants from the ESRC, AHRC, Nuffield Foundation, and EPSRC, including projects like Living With Data, Generic Visuals in the News, and Seeing Data. She supervises PhD students on topics ranging from algorithmic bias to digital self-tracking and has completed 13 PhD supervisions. She actively collaborates with policy makers (DWP, BBC, DCMS), media organizations (Financial Times, Reach PLC), and NGOs to translate research into impact, particularly in web accessibility and data governance.

She leads the Living With Data research programme and is involved in the Everyday Life and Critical Diversities and Science, Technology and Medicine in Society research groups. Her work with the ESRC Digital Good Network brings together academics, practitioners, and civil society to envision equitable digital futures.