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Dr Stephanie Alice Baker

Senior Lecturer in Sociology

School of Policy and Global Affairs

Contact details

Address

Dr Stephanie Alice Baker D624, Rhind Building
City, University of London
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

Research Profile

Dr Stephanie Alice Baker is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology. She received a B.A. (Hons. 1st Class) from the University of Sydney in 2006 and a Ph.D. (awarded without revision) in 2010. She has held research and teaching positions at the Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay, the University of Sydney, the University of Western Sydney, the University of Greenwich and Goldsmiths, University of London.

Dr Baker’s research explores how we connect and communicate online, particularly around issues pertaining to health and wellness.

Her first book, Social Tragedy (Palgrave MacMillan 2014) , analysed how collective narratives emerge in different cultural contexts and the role of the media in communicating tragic events of social significance.

Her second book examined how authority and influence are constructed online in the context of the wellness industry. She situated this research in discussions around trust, the decline of expertise, authenticity, micro-celebrity and medical misinformation. She has published several key articles on these topics as well as a book, Lifestyle Gurus: Constructing authority and influence online (Polity 2019), co-authored with Chris Rojek.

Dr Baker’s current research extends this work by exploring influencer culture and the spread of medical misinformation in the context of COVID-19.

Research Interests
• The role of digital technologies to connect and communicate online, particularly on issues pertaining to health and wellness
• The construction of authority and influence online, including experts and social media influencers
• How collective narratives emerge online and offline
• The spread of medical misinformation and disinformation on social media

Consultancy Work

Dr Baker has worked with organisations across the public and private sector. Past collaborators include the BBC, ITV, Flamingo, Bisto, Discovery Channel, Weber Shandwick, Tapestry Research, Sense Worldwide and TECNO mobile.

Media Appearances

She has a strong media presence having featured on BBC World News, ITV and the European culture channel, ARTE. Dr Baker’s research has been published by the Independent, Newsweek, Scroll, the Irish Examiner, the Times of Malta, ABC News and The Conversation. She has been interviewed by, and quoted extensively in the Guardian, The New Economy, the Evening Standard, the Irish Times, Huffington Post, the Daily Telegraph, Mainichi Shimbun and the Atlantic on social media influencers, wellness gurus, trust relations, intimacy, collective memory and digital technologies.

Qualifications

  1. PhD, University of Western Sydney, Australia, 2010
  2. BA (Hons 1st Class), University of Sydney, Australia, 2006

Employment

  1. Senior Lecturer, City, University of London, Jun 2020 – present
  2. Lecturer, City, University of London, Nov 2014 – May 2020
  3. Researcher, Goldsmiths University of London, 2013 – 2014
  4. Visiting Lecturer, University of Greenwich, London, 2010 – 2012
  5. Research Assistant, Institute for Culture and Society, 2010 – 2012
  6. Research Assistant, Centre for Citizenship and Public Policy, 2010
  7. Research Fellow, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, 2010
  8. Honorary Visiting Fellow, University of Leicester, 2007 – 2008
  9. Academic Tutor, University of Sydney, 2006 – 2007

Memberships of professional organisations

  1. The Royal Society of Arts (RSA), 2017 – present
  2. Inducted Member, Golden Key International Honour Society, 2003 – present

Awards

  1. Emerald Literati Network Award for Excellence (2013) Outstanding Paper Award Winner
  2. European Association for Sociology of Sport (2011) Young Researcher’s Award
  3. Australian Federal Government (2010) Endeavour Research Award
  4. University of Western Sydney (2008) Postgraduate Research Award (full PhD scholarship)
  5. University of Sydney (2007) Wentworth Travelling Scholarship
  6. University of Sydney (2006) University Postgraduate Award (full PhD scholarship)
  7. University of Sydney Postgraduate Research Support Scheme
    2006, 2007, 2008

Publications

Publications by category

Books (2)

  • Baker, S.A. and Rojek, C. (2019). Lifestyle Gurus Constructing Authority and Influence Online. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Polity. ISBN 978-1-5095-3018-2.
  • Baker, S.A. (2014). Social Tragedy. Palgrave Macmillan US. ISBN 978-1-349-48150-7.

Chapters (11)

  • Baker, S.A. and Walsh, M.J. (2020). You are what you Instagram: clean eating and the symbolic representation of food. In Lupton, D. and Feldman, Z. (Eds.), Digital Food Cultures (pp. 53–68). Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-40213-5.
  • Baker, S.A. (2014). Introduction: Plato's Challenge. In Baker, S. (Ed.), Social Tragedy The Power of Myth, Ritual, and Emotion in the New Media Ecology (pp. 1–27). Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-37913-9.
  • Baker, S.A. and Rowe, D. (2013). The power of popular publicity: new social media and the affective dynamics of the sport racism scandal. (pp. 441–460). Informa UK Limited.
  • Baker, S.A. and Hamilton, M. (2013). France. In Emery, R.E. (Ed.), Cultural Sociology of Divorce: An Encyclopedia New York: SAGE.
  • Baker, S.A. (2013). Theatre and Film. In Emery, R.E. (Ed.), Cultural Sociology of Divorce: An Encyclopedia New York: SAGE.
  • Rowe, D. and Baker, S.A. (2012). Truly a Fan Experience? The Cultural Politics of the Live Site. In Krøvel, R. and Roksvold, T. (Eds.), We Love to Hate Each Other: Mediated Football Fan Culture (pp. 303–319). Gothenburg: Nordicom. ISBN 978-91-86523-35-0.
  • Baker, S.A. (2012). Social Tragedy: Zidane’s role in the nation’s tragic epic. In Kearney, M. (Ed.), From Conflict to Recognition: Moving Multiculturalism Forward (pp. 235–250). New York: Rodopi.
  • Baker, S.A. (2011). Ancient India. In Barnett, G. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Networks (pp. 38–41). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Baker, S.A. (2011). Earliest Civilizations. In Barnett, G. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Networks (pp. 221–224). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Baker, S.A. and Peckman, A. (2011). India. In Barnett, G. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Networks (pp. 401–406). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
  • Baker, S.A. (2011). Nepal. In Barnett, G. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Social Networks (pp. 586–587). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Internet publications (3)

Journal articles (28)

Reports (2)

Professional activities

Keynote lecture/speech

  1. The Social Foundation of Decision Making. Leeds, UK (2016). http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/news/family-planning?dm_t=0,0,0,0,0