Dr Richard Cook
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canary:nonsense001:DrRichyCook:2025-05-08:79e1c308-0340-493a-89b9-5b4840545340:0fd98dc52078
I'm a sociologist primarily concerned with how people come to know. My research interest is around what counts as knowledge and whose knowledge is important. Currently I am exploring the social construction of nonsense.
I'm producing an art exhibition in Bristol of AI facsimiles that will challenge visitors perceptions of whose knowledge is important and what counts as knowledge. It speaks to identity and power asymmetries and sits within public pedagogy
ETHNOGRAMS | SENSEPLACE I've used ethnography as a good way to explore human behaviour and developed several key concepts that transpose well across disciplines. For example ' narrative meaning' and 'senseplaces'. Two important conceptual tools to develop insights about individuals habits and patterns. The talk below shows my current direction of research travel. Machine auto-ethnography, machine-machine interactions, synthetic authors, command and control socities, fractured ontologies... Here is a talk I recently gave to the British Computing Society (Cheltenham) which gives a flavour of my current direction and focus.
Get in contact for press or speaking here
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Recent Publications
Relja, R., Ward, P., Cook, R. and Zhao, A.L., (2025). Credit Dom(me)s, BNPL switches and debt subs: Experiences of pain and pleasure. Journal of Business Research, 194, p.115380. Available hereCook, R. (2024) Crafting a ‘senseplace’: the touch, sound and smell of graffiti, Senses and Society. Available here
Cook, R. (2024). ‘Ethnograms’. in Kara, H, (ed) The Bloomsbury Handbook of Creative Research Methods. pp.123-133. UK: Bloomsbury Academic. Available here.
Cook, R. (2023) 'Using an ‘ethnogram’ to visualise talk in the classroom'. The International Journal of Research and Method in Education. Vol 18, Issue 3. pp.223-240. Available here
Cook, R. and Hockey, J. (2023) ‘Gravel cycling craft and the senses: scenes, sounds, vibrations, fatigue and typifications on off-road tracks’. Senses and Society. Volume 18, Issue 3. pp.223-240 .Available here