Prior to joining Middlesex University as a Lecturer in Digital Sociology, Herminder obtained her doctorate from Loughborough University, which was funded by Loughborough University's Doctoral College studentship. Whilst at Loughborough University, Herminder has been a co-convenor for the Culture and Media Analysis Research Group and has worked as a content analyst for the 2017 General Election, 2015 General Election and 2016 Referendum projects led by the Centre for Research in Communication and Culture.
She also worked as a research assistant for a project on digital storytelling and de-radicalisation of young people for the School of English, Arts and Drama.
Postgraduate Teaching Certification (PGCert) in Higher Education, Middlesex University London
Level 1 in British Sign Language, Awarded by Institute of British Sign Lanuage, University of Leicester
Doctorate in Digital Sociology, Loughborough University
Masters in Social Research, The University of Warwick
Undergraduate in Sociology, Loughborough University
Room: WG26 (Ground Floor, Williams Building)
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Twitter: @HerminderKaur
Dr Kaur explains her research into how young people with disabilities move within and between social media and websites.
Doctoral Supervision
Meghan Luton (2020-) Dissertation topic: Experiences of Deaf Women in Maternity Services. Co-supervised with Professor Helen T Allan & Dr Liang Liu.
Sarah Chitongo (2018-) Dissertation title: Midwives experiences of caring for high risk women from Black Asian Ethnic Minority Groups. Awarded with the Mary Seacole Development Award. Co-supervised with Professor Helen T Allan.
Herminder has research interests on how young people with physical disabilities access and use the Internet. She develops and uses ethnographic and visual methods. Four key themes emerge from her current research: rhythms and movements of internet use, online relationships, stigma and exclusion, internet regulation by teachers and parents, and the enactment of disability.
Kaur, H., Saukko, P. and Lumsden, K. (2018) Rhythms of moving in and between digital media: a study on video diaries by young people with physical disabilities. Mobilities. 13, 3: 397-410. DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2017.1355349
(2017) Announcement of doctoral thesis. Disability & Society, 32 (6) 939-943.
Kaur, H. (2019) Young men with physical disabilities struggle for digital sex(uality). In Lumsden, K. & Harmer, E. (eds.) Online Othering. Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecuirty. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kaur, H. (2016) It's like they're looking inside your body or inside your brain.' Internet surveillance practices in a special school, pp. 73-84 in Kramp, L., Carpentier, N., Hepp, A., Kilborn, R., Kunelius, R., Nieminen, H., Olsson, T., Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt, P., Tomanic Trivundza, I., Tosoni, S. (Eds.) Politics, Civil Society and Participation: Media and Communications in a Transforming Environment. Bremen: edition lumiere.
Kaur, H. (2017) Not All Young People Move Rapidly in and Between Digital Media. Discover Society, DS48.
Herminder is the principal investigator for a research project which has been awarded with a small research grant (£5000) from the Higher Education Initiative Fund. The project being funded is titled: Exploring Digital Media Access, Use and Skills Among South Asians in England, and is being co-led with Dr Myrna Papadouka, Dr Rima Saini and Research Assistant Brigita Valantinaviciute.
Herminder Kaur is a representative for the ECREA Young Scholars Network for the temporary working group: Children, Youth and Media. She will be representing the group at the 2020 Braga conference. She has previously represented the group on at the ICA (2018) Pre-Conference on Trust, control and privacy: Mediatisation of childhood and adolescence in the digital age. Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
Herminder is a member of the Digital Technologies and Social Inclusion Group (DTSI) and has been working with Emeritus Professor Leela Damodaran. She is also a Associate Member of the Digital Participation Group for the East Midlands Later Life Forum.
Herminder is also a member of the steering group for FemGenSex more details about the research cluster can be found here FemGenSex blog.
Kaur, H. (2019, 15th May) Journeys and politics of digital media use by young people with physical disabilities. Department of Educational Research Seminar. Lancaster University. UK.
Kaur, H. (2017, May) Using Visual Methods. Paper presented for Liquid Lab, Loughborough University. Loughborough, UK.
Kaur, H. (2018, Nov) Rhythms of moving in and out of digital media: a study on video diaries of young people with physical disabilities. Paper presented at the 7th European Communication Conference, Lugano, Switzerland.
Kaur, H. (2018, 19th July) Social Access. Young People with Physical Disabilities Seek Acceptance through Digital Media. Presented at the 9th International Conference on Social Media and Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kaur, H. (2018, 1st June) Struggles to Overcome Bodily Stigma on Social Networking Sites. Paper presented at the Instagram Conference 2018. Middlesex University, UK.
Kaur, H. (2018, 9th May) Struggles for Social Access. Young People with Physical Disabilities in Online Relationships. Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Conference on Disability, UCL, London, UK.
Kaur, H. (2017, June) Unravelling the Rhythms of Moving in and out of the Internet. Paper presented at Connected Life 2017, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Kaur, H. (2016, November) Teenagers with a Physical Disability and their Online Relationships. Paper presented at 6th European Communication Conference (ECREA). Prague, Czech Republic.
Kaur, H. (2015, April) Internet Use by Physically Dis-Abled Young People. Paper presented at British Sociological Association Annual Conference 2015. Glasgow, Scotland.
Kaur, H. (2014, September) Disability and Physically Dis-Abled Teenagers. Paper presented at Disability Studies Conference 2014. Lancaster, England.
