Dr Celia Roberts

PhD Supervision Interests

Supervision
I am interested in a number of research areas, mostly focusing on issues relating to health, embodiment, sexuality, reproduction and biology.
I have co-supervised 6 PhD students to completion to date and all have passed with no or minor amendments:
- Lin Wen-Yuan (2005) who worked on kidney dialysis in Taiwan;
- Kaori Sasaki (2006) who worked on brain death and organ transplantation in Japan;
- Ranjini C.R. (2006) who worked on health information systems in southern India
- Anne Rudolph (2009) whose thesis focussed on young lesbian, bi-sexual and queer women's understandings of sexually transmitted infections;
- Clare Hollowell (2010) who studied young women's experiences of fun; and
-Shih, Li-Wen (2012) whose research focussed on prenatal testing and screening in Taiwan.

I have seven current phD students:
1. Brigit Morris-Coulton, who is working on mental health recovery and arts practices
2. Rebecca Fox, who is working on women with learning disabilities living in secure accomodation
3. Kate McNicolas-Smith, who is working on lesbians on television
4. Alison Hanbury, studying the HPV vaccine in the UK
5. Oscar Maldonado,researching the HPV vaccine in Colombia
6. Joann Wilkinson, studying reproductive biosensors
7. Lucy Ryan, studying adoptors' views and exeriences of parenting.

All of these are empirical research projects, using methods such as participant observation, interviewing, focus groups and textual analysis.

I am deeply interested in feminist and social theory and am an editor of a leading feminist journal, Feminist Theory. I am very keen to work with postgraduate students on these themes relating to feminist theory, embodiment and sexuality, either in Sociology or Women's Studies. Prospective students should feel free to contact me by email to discuss the possibility of studying at Lancaster.

Current Teaching

Teaching and Departmental Roles

I am curently the Co-Director, with Imogen Tyler of the Centre for Gender and Women's Studies and also, with Imogen again, Joint Doctoral Director in the Department of Sociology.

In 2012-13 I am co-teaching, with Maggie Mort, a 3rd year Undergraduate course entitled 'Health, Life and Bodies', which uses problem-based learning to explore contemporary health issues. I am also teaching an MA course, 'Gender, Sex and Bodies' which is a core course for our Women's Studies Programme. I also deliver four lectures on the Part One Gender and Women's Studies course and supervise undergraduate dissertations as part of our 3rd year dissertation course.

Research Interests

My research centres on the body, health, reproduction, sexuality and aging. I am currently writing a book on early onset puberty, entitled 'Puberty in Crisis: a bio-psycho-social account'. This book brings together feminist science studies, feminist theories of the body, sexuality and girlhood studies to explore the current global 'crisis' in sexual development. As listed below, I have several publications in this area.

This work builds on my earlier book, Messengers of Sex: hormones, biomedicine and feminism (Cambridge University Press, 2007), which explores the role of hormones in producing sexually differentiated bodies (http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521681971). In it, I critically analyse scientific and biomedical texts, pharmaceutical advertisements, patient leaflets, and popular media accounts of sex hormones and how they work in our bodies. I have published several articles on this area (see below), with a particular focus on hormone replacement therapy. I am interested in questions of responsibility and risk in contemporary biomedicine, and in how patients come to make decisions about engaging with new medical technologies.

I am also the co-author (with Sarah Franklin) of a book on genetics and reproduction, entitled Born and Made: An ethnography of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (Princeton University Press, 2006) (http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8313.html). This work is based on three years of ethnographic research of the so-called 'designer baby technique' (preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD). This research was funded by the ESRC and MRC within the Innovative Health Technologies programme. With Franklin and Karen Throsby (Warwick University), I have also studied the donation of embryos to stem cell research within the PGD clinic (funded by the Wellcome Trust and CESAGen). Karen Throsby and I are continuing this work in genetics together, and are currently working on issues relating to puberty and obesity and genetics.

My interest in new biomedical technologies has led to collaboration with colleagues in the Division of Health Research and the Centre for Science Studies. I have participated in 4 projects funded by the EU, two of which are ongoing. In chronological order these are:

1) A Thematic Network entitled 'Identifying Trends in European Medical Space' (ITEMS), which provides opportunities for scholars and students working on health and medical from social science and humanities' perspectives to come together at meetings and conferences and to develop international projects (see http://www.csi.ensmp.fr/WebCSI/ITEMS/index.htm);

2) A Specific Support Action called 'Governance, health, and medicine: Opening dialogue between social scientists and users' (MEDUSE), which focussed on three areas of research, including the use of new technologies to care for older people living at home (see http://www.csi.ensmp.fr/WebCSI/MEDUSE/);

3) A collaborative research project led by Lancaster, with partners in The Netherlands, Norway and Spain, entitled 'Ethical Frameworks for Telecare Technologies' (EFORTT) (see http://www.lancs.ac.uk/efortt/). This project, led by our group at Lancaster, is focussing on older people living at home, and looking at the development of new care technologies to assist them in this. In essence, we are investigating what 'care' for older people means today. This project involves ethnographic research and citizens' panels;

4) A collaborative research project led by colleagues at the Ecole des Mines, Paris, with partners in Ireland, the UK and Portugal entitled 'European Patient Organisations in Knowledge Society' (EPOKS) (See http://www.csi.ensmp.fr/WebCSI/EPOKSWebSite/).This project is investigating patient organisations across a range of health conditions. In the Lancaster part of the project, Imogen Tyler, Candice Satchwelland I are looking at British birth organisations and their impact on women's health. This is an ethnographic project.

In the past, I have also worked on research projects on breast cancer, HIV/AIDS and heterosexuality, and gender equity in public institutions.

Finally, I am a co-editor of Feminist Theory and recently co-edited, with Myra Hird, a special issue of Feminist Theory on 'non-human feminisms'.

Some publications

On hormones:

C. Roberts. 2007. Messengers of Sex: Hormones, biomedicine and feminism. Cambridge University Press.

C. Roberts, k. valentine and S. Fraser (2009) 'Rationalities and non-rationalities in clinical encounters: Methadone maintenance treatment and hormone replacement therapy', Science as Culture, Special Issue on 'Living Drugs' 18(2)

C. Roberts. 2006. '"What can I do to help myself?" Somatic individuality and contemporary hormonal bodies' Science Studies 19(2): 54-76

C. Roberts. 2004. Sex, Race and "Unnatural" Difference, European Journal of Women's Studies 11(1): 27-44

C. Roberts. 2003. Drowning in a Sea of Estrogens: Sex hormones, sexual reproduction and sex. Sexualities 6(2), 97-115 http://sexualities.sagepub.com/content/vol6/issue2/

C. Roberts. 2002. "Successful Aging" with Hormone Replacement Therapy: It may be sexist, but what if it works? Science as Culture 11(1) March, 39-59

C. Roberts. 2001. "A Matter of Embodied Fact": Sex hormones and the history of Bodies. Feminist Theory 3(1) 7-26

C. Roberts. 2000. Biological Behavior? Hormones, psychology and sex. The Science and Politics of the Search for Sex Differences: A Special Issue of the NWSA Journal, 12(3): 1-20.

C. Roberts. 2000. Sex Hormones as Biocultural Actors: Rethinking biology, sexual difference and health. In Women's Health: An International Reader. Routledge. J. M. Ussher (ed.): 572-587.

C. Roberts. 1998. Thinking Biological Materiality. Australian Feminist Studies, 14(29): 131-139.

On genetics and reproduction:

S. Franklin and C. Roberts. 2006. Born and Made: An ethnography of preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Princeton University Press.

K. Throsby and C. Roberts. 2010. Getting Bigger: children's bodies, genes and environments. In S. Parry and J. Dupre (eds), Nature After the Genome, Wiley Blackwell, pp. 73-92

C. Roberts. 2008. Relating Simply? Feminist science studies, reproduction and technoscience in the early twenty-first century. Australian Feminist Studies.

Roberts, C. 2006. Enacting gender in reproductive medicine, in Wieser, Bernhard, Sandra Karner and Wilhelm Berger (eds.): Prenatal Testing: Individual Decision or Distributed Action? München, Wien: Profil, pp. 87-100.

C. Roberts and S. Franklin 2004. Experiencing New Forms of Genetic Choice: Findings from an ethnographic study of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Human Fertility 7(4): 285-293.

C. Roberts. 2003. Genetic Information and Choice in the Context of Reproductive Decision-making: Findings from an ethnographic study of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, Proceedings of Genetics and Reproduction in the 21st Century: The myth of choice? Human Genetics Commission.

C. Roberts. 2001. Listening to 'gene talk'. Science as Culture 10(4), December, 573-579

On technoscience and biomedicine, telecare, cancer and sexuality:

C. Roberts and M. Mort. 2009. Reshaping what counts as care:older people, work and new technologies, Alter, European Journal of Disability Research, Special Issue, http://www.em-consulte.com/revue/alter/s200/9960

C. Waldby and C. Roberts (2008) Editors, 'Festschrift for Sue Kippax,' Australian Feminist Studies Special Section 23(58)

Fraser, S., Valentine, K & Roberts, C. 2009. 'Living Drugs'. In Living Drugs, Special issue of Science as Culture 18(2): 123-131

M. Mort, C. Milligan, C. Roberts and I. Moser (eds). 2008. Ageing, Technology and Home Care, Presses de l'Ecole des Mines: Paris

C. Roberts and A. Mackenzie. 2006. Science. Theory, Culture and Society: Problematizing Global Knowledge, Special Issue 23(2-3): 157-163. http://tcs.sagepub.com/content/vol23/issue2-3/

C. Roberts. 2006. Medicine and the sexual body, in Handbook of the New Sexuality Studies, Steven Seidman, Nancy Fischer, Chet Meeks (eds) Routledge: New York and London

C. Roberts and K. Throsby. 2006. 'Encouraging dissent': contemporary challenges to bioethics [review essay] Australian Feminist Studies 21(50): 289-291

Liebert B, Parle M, Roberts C, et al. 2003. An evidence based specialist breast nurse role in practice: A multi-centre implementation study. European Journal of Cancer Care, March 12(1): 91-7

C. Roberts. 2001. Critical Consumers: Ideas for breast cancer advocacy. Queensland Women's Health Journal 1(1), 5-16.

C. Roberts. 1998. Science and Feminism. In B. Caine et al (eds). Australian Feminism: A Companion. Oxford University Press. London: 281-6.

C. Roberts, S. Kippax, M. Spongberg and J. Crawford. 1996. 'Going Down': Oral Sex, imaginary bodies and HIV. Body and Society 2(3), September: 107-124.

C. Roberts, S. Kippax, C. Waldby and J. Crawford. 1995. Faking It: The Story of 'OHH!' Women's Studies International Forum. 18: 523-32. Reprinted in Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and Society, Kimmel, M.S. and Plante, R.F. (eds) Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004 266-274

• Living Data: Making sense of health biosensors

  01/05/2011 →
  Celia Roberts, Adrian Mackenzie, Maggie Mort
  ... Read more»

• FP7: EPOK

  01/02/2009 → 30/04/2012
  Celia Roberts, Imogen Tyler
  ... Read more»

• FP7: EFFORT

  01/03/2008 →
  Maggie Mort, Christine Milligan, Celia Roberts
  Ethical Frameworks for Telecare Technologies for Older People at Home ... Read more»

• Melancholic States - International Conference

  15/05/2006 →
  Celia Roberts, Imogen Tyler, Anne-Marie Fortier, Maureen McNeil
  CALL FOR PAPERS The concept of melancholia has assumed widespread and varied currency across numerous fields. Sometimes used to refer to a state of mind or to an affective state; sometimes used to s ... Read more»

• Healthcare at home? New technologies and responsibilities across diverse EU systems and cultures

  01/02/2006 → 30/09/2009
  Maggie Mort, Celia Roberts, Christine Milligan
  To draw together social science studies and findings about technological and spatial shifts which project the home as a site of healthcare provision for older people To collate what is known about ho ... Read more»

• ITEMS

  01/06/2003 → 30/09/2006
  Maggie Mort, Celia Roberts, Christine Milligan, John Welshman, Dawn Goodwin
  ITEMS - Identifying Trends in European Medical Space The Lancaster workpackage involved investigating the training needs of PhDs and post-doctoral fellows in humanities and social studies of health a ... Read more»

• Special Issue of European Disability Journal

  08/04/2009
  'Ageing, Technology & the Home: Researching New Care Configurations' is a special issue of the journal ALTER - European Journal of Disability Research, which has been edited by Maggie Mort & C ... Read more»

• European Research Project on Childbirth Organisations

  10/03/2009
  Dr Celia Roberts and Dr Imogen Tyler have been awarded a 150k European grant (7th Framework Science and Society) to undertake research on childbirth organisations in the UK. This research project form ... Read more»