Professor awarded prestigious Vincent Wright Chair

Professor William Housley has been awarded the prestigious Vincent Wright Chair at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) for 2017.

Inaugurated in 2003, the Vincent Wright Chair is a visiting professorship that promotes academic exchanges between France and Britain by welcoming one professor from a UK university to Sciences Po each year. The Vincent Wright Chair encourages European comparative research and helps develop cooperation between Science Po and British universities.

Professor Housley, who is the current Chair in Sociology at the School of Social Sciences said: "This is a great honour and I am looking forward to working with colleagues in order to promote cooperation between Sciences Po, Cardiff University and the wider UK social science community. It represents an excellent opportunity to strengthen research ties with the leading social science institution in France.”

The award will facilitate and support the development of research networks and activities with key social science research centres at Sciences Po. In addition to this, Professor Housley will be teaching postgraduate students at the recently established School of Management and Innovation based in Paris. These research and teaching activities will be focused on the social aspects of digital disruptive technologies and their implications for social organization and relations as they impact upon individuals, social groups, the professions, organisations and wider society.

Professor Housley commented: “Distributed ‘disruptive’ networked technologies such as social media, robotics and the internet of things present profound challenges and opportunities for the full spectrum of social relations; sociology is well placed to engage with key interdisciplinary debates, empirical inquiry, ethics, responsible innovation and the theory building necessary to navigate and anticipate the consequences and effects of rapid social change associated with these technologies..."

"By working with key centres of excellence at Sciences Po we will be able to build increased research capacity and intellectual collaboration with those who share a strong interest in the emerging contours of digital societies.”

Sciences Po is a research university in the social sciences, internationally recognised for the quality of its scientific output, with research programmes that are endorsed by international public agencies. It is a member of several university consortia and has developed partnerships with 470 universities. The institution also relies on an influential community of alumni, as well as an extensive network of major companies, international organisations, governments, foundations and media outlets.