Dr Kathleen Richardson British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow Department of Anthropology Room 229 University College London 14 Taviton St London WC1H OBW +44 (0) 2076798781 kathlen.richardson@ucl.ac.uk http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropology/staff/k_richardson/index
ROBOT ANTHROPOLOGY Research Interests My postdoctoral research will be a study of special kinds of robots for the therapeutic assistance for children and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). These robots are termed social and humanoid. Robotic machines and persons with ASD are said to lack social capacities – yet I will follow their interactions in the clinical and lab spaces in the UK and US. Studies have suggested that the mere presence of a humanoid robot can enhance the social capacities of persons with ASD. This presents an interesting issue for anthropological theorizing of the social – what does it mean to be social? Who or what can or cannot be said to have it? My British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship builds on research completed for my PhD in the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge where I studied the making of human-like and social robots at MIT. And for the last two years I have also conducted research on social networking particularly Facebook. I completed my doctoral studies in the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge and conducted fieldwork in robotics labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). My thesis, 'Annihilating Difference? Robots and Building Design at MIT' examined relationalities between humans and nonhumans through a study of robots and buildings on the MIT campus. I am alumni of Corpus Christi College. More About Me In May 2006, I produced the play R.U.R (Rossum’s Universal Robots) written by Karel Čapek (1921) and the source of the first robots. I am also a freelance writer and have contributed to a number of publications including The New Scientist and The Times Higher Educational Supplement. I conducted fieldwork on Facebook and continue to develop work in this area. was BT-sponsored and examined how users construct and organize their sociality through online social networking technologies. I am also a keen amateur photographer. The Future I am really going to get round to updating this site as soon as I get a chance! In the meantime you can read some of my published articles on robotics and popular culture below. Please get in touch if you have any questions or would like further information regarding my research.
ARTICLES AND REVIEWS WALL-E FILM REVIEW SEX, LOVE AND ROBOTS BOOK REVIEW MY FRIEND THE ROBOT ROBOTS ARE OUR FRIENDS? THE STATA CENTRE AND TECHNOLOGY BUILDING DESIGN I, ROBOT FILM REVIEW HOME HELP HUMANOID ROBOTS   SELECTED PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT ROBOTS RIGHTS AT THE DANA CENTRE RISING STARS I ROBOT   SELECTED CONFERENCE TALKS BSHS 4 SOCIETIES MEETING 2008 THE THINKING MACHINE 2008 SWISS STS SCIENCE MEETING 2008 MACHINE CONSCIOUSNES SYMPOSIUM 2006 IN THE PRESS NEW YORK TIMES THE NEW ATLANTIS RADIO PRAGUE 85 YEARS OF THE ROBOT SEGWAY ROBOT MIT DEVELOPS ROBOTS ASSISITANT PAST PROJECTS AND MORE INFORMATION THE FIRST ROBOTS ROBOTS TODAY THE CAMBRIDGE ROBOT PROJECT

 Page updated July 2008 –

I am currently trying to update my webpage but it has been a very long time.

Please be patient with me J

 
Page created in October 2003