Research Supervisor Connect
Dr Katherine Kenny is Deputy Director of the Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies, and an ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences at The University of Sydney. She gained her PhD in Sociology and Science Studies from the University of California, San Diego in 2015. Prior to joining The University of Sydney, she held positions as Postdoctoral Research Fellow, then Research Fellow at the Practical Justice Initiative and Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW Sydney. Her research draws on social theory and qualitative methodologies to better understand how health and disease, (or illness and wellness) are understood, ‘treated’, experienced and made meaningful in clinical contexts and in everyday life.
Katie is also interested in using creative and arts-based research methods and finding innovative ways to make research findings publicly accessible and available. For a recent example of this kind of work, see the digital gallery of participant-produced photographs from the ‘Picturing Cancer Survivorship’ study here: www.picturingcancersurvivorship.org.
Her publications span a range of empirical topics including the lived-experience of advanced cancer (e.g. Sociology of Health & Illness, 2021; The Sociological Review, 2021; Sociology, 2020; The British Journal of Sociology, 2018, Subjectivity, 2017, The Sociological Review, 2018); informal care (Qualitative Health Research, 2019; The Sociological Review, 2016); death, dying and bereavement (Social Science & Medicine, 2019; Health, 2017, Palliative and Supportive Care 2017); and how life is valued and governed through healthcare systems (e.g. Journal of Sociology, 2015; Critical Public Health, 2021; Social Science & Medicine, 2021). They are unified by such questions as: what constitutes health and affliction, and how is it biomedically codified, and collectively and individually experienced? What forms of care are required and what kinds of suffering emerge in their absence? And how are health practices evolving within the rapidly changing contexts of biomedicine, health and informal care?
Sociology and Criminology, School of Social and Political Sciences (SSPS)
Research interests
1. If you are interested in this research opportunity, you are encouraged to email the potential supervisor directly. To find their email address, follow the link provided to their profile page.
When contacting them, you should describe your academic educational background and research experience, and include an academic transcript and CV (resume). You should also include a research proposal (1500-2000 words); refer to How to write a research proposal for guidance. You should explain why you want to undertake a PhD and how you believe your research topic aligns with the supervisor’s own research. You may be asked to supply a sample of written work.
2. Your potential supervisor may offer you advice on developing your research proposal before you submit your application. You will need to provide a written statement from your potential supervisor that they have agreed to supervise your project.
3. If you would like general advice in your subject area before submitting an application, contact an academic advisor listed here: https://www.sydney.edu.au/arts/study/postgraduate-research/postgraduate-research-contact.html
The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is 3244