Shelda-Jane Smith

My research interests coalesce around social studies of health, ecology, disability, medical knowledge and practice, science and technology [STS], and critical psychology. I received my PhD from The University of Liverpool, Department of Public Health and Policy (2020). This was an ethnographic study of UK institutional healthcare practices for young people with epilepsy and co-morbid learning disabilities as they transitioned from paediatric to adult services.

I joined the Geography and Planning Department in 2020. My research explores the social and political determinants of physical and psychological health from both community and institutional (NHS) perspectives. I continually aim to build a research practice that centres emancipatory commitments, whilst exploring anti-colonial/capitalist resistance and environmental justice as a path toward physical and psychological wellness. In this regard, my work attends to three broad areas:

1) Exploring community-based approaches to human health and psychology. In particular, I’m interested in exploring mental health, disability, and caregiving frameworks and practices.

2) Critically analysing the socio-political and institutional processes that shape the lives of young people.

3) Developing interdisciplinary methodologies and projects that bring together creative/arts, film, and community, alongside ethnographic methods.