Dr Pieter Verdegem is Reader in Technology and Society in the Westminster School of Media and Communication and member of CAMRI (the Communication and Media Research Institute).

His research investigates the political economy of media and communication and the impact of digital technologies on society.

He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and teaches core undergraduate and postgraduate modules every year.

Prior to joining the Westminster School of Media and Communication, he was Assistant Professor in New Media and ICT in the Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium (2012-2016) and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, Sweden (2011-2012). He holds a PhD in Communication Sciences from Ghent University.

RESEARCH

He leads the CAMRI research theme Communication, Technology and Society.

His research covers two major areas of scholarship. First, he investigates the political economy of media, communications and digital technologies. He is currently writing Understanding Data, Culture and Society for SAGE, a textbook on power and the data society. Second, he is interested in AI, data and computational culture, and the impact of digital technologies on society. He has edited the volume AI for Everyone? Critical Perspectives for the University of Westminster Press.

He has published widely in leading academic journals, including AI & Society, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, and the European Journal of Communication.

TEACHING

He is Course Leader for the MA Data, Culture and Society.

His teaching interests are centred on artificial intelligence (AI), data and society, the political economy of media and communication, and internet studies.

He welcomes proposals from prospective PhD students interested in developing projects on the following topics:

• AI, data and society
• the automation and datafication of communication and society
• digital media and platform (political) economies.