Inclusive Society

Beyond Human

What does it mean to call ourselves human, and what happens when we move beyond human capacity? Think robotics, AI and an unexplored future for our species.

Father and young daughter sitting on sofa with a laptop

Joining The Baby Club - designing children’s television with Professor Jackie Marsh

How do you design a children’s programme that’s also for adults? That’s the challenge for new BBC television programme The Baby Club, which aims to develop adults’ skills as much as those for toddlers.

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AI and the robotic restructuring of cities in the covid-19 pandemic

How has the covid-19 pandemic broadened the landscape of robotic infrastructure and what could this mean for future urban restructuring?

The Canine Care project

The Canine Care Project explored the experiences of disabled young people who have assistance dogs. The project collaborated with Canine Partners, a registered charity that transforms the lives of disabled people through partnering them with assistance dogs.

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An AI assistant on a table with plant pot

Where are the women in AI?

When it comes to making chatbots and humanoid robots, women appear regularly. They have names like Alexa and Siri – chatbots gendered as women, but designed by male dominated teams.

Human futures

Research in the iHuman research insitute considers how we imagine what the future could be, as something co-created between science and society in the here and now.

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Urban Development

Addressing some of the major social, economic and environmental challenges facing our cities today and in the future.

Responding to climate change in the context of rapid urbanisation

According to Professor Vanesa Castán Broto, from the Urban Institute, attaining low carbon cities depends on mundane actions; the kind of small shifts in everyday life whereby citizens themselves become the agents of change.

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Shaping the cities of tomorrow in the wake of Covid-19

Has the scale and severity of global pandemic COVID-19 changed the perspective of what urban development and an ‘urban future’ might look like?

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A house in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. — Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Image by Centre for Ageing Better.

England’s crumbling housing stock thanks to lack of government action, says new report

New report by UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence says lack of action from the central government has contributed to housing quality crisis in England.

Race, place and difference

Who you are can have a big impact on the life you lead. Race, place and difference can provide opportunities or create disadvantage and strain. What does this mean for different communities in the UK and globally?

Local journalist interviews woman for radio — © Kalidou Sy - Fondation Hirondelle

How can radio empower women in Africa?

Dr Emma Heywood, Lecturer in Journalism, Politics and Communication in the Department of Journalism is working with communities in three of Africa’s poorest countries to assess the impact of radio on women’s rights and empowerment.

Storying relationships

The stories and practices of young British Pakistani Muslims. This project asks how young British Muslims, particularly those with Pakistani heritage, talk and think about their personal relationships.

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New learning disability self advocacy map will help to connect people and share work

In 2018, Sunderland People First began work with academics at the University of Sheffield on a Crook Fellowship project. This work created an interactive map, along with a website, of learning disability self advocacy organisations in England.

Employing disabled people: how and why the workplace can be transformed

Disability researchers Sally Whitney, Lucy Watts (MBE) and Rachael Black have come together to create a set of resources to guide employers on employing disabled people.

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Digital Equalities

Our research investigates the political, social, cultural and economic impacts of digital life today. We strive to ensure that everyone can access digital technologies and the skills to use them.

A smartphone screen showing lots of social media icons.

Changing social media policy: how research is helping people to talk about mental health

Dr Ysabel Gerrard brings her experience as a sociologist together with her role as a member of the Facebook and Instagram Suicide and Self-injury Advisory Board to investigate how people talk about mental health on social media.

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Making connections to support disabled young people to live their lives

iHuman researchers have worked with Scope on a research project that explores the lives of disabled young people and the key connections that support them to flourish and thrive, including the enhancement of digital living.

An illustration created by the Living With Data team

Public concern about data use remains high, according to survey

Living With Data is a research project funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which aims to understand people’s perceptions of how their data is collected, analysed, shared and used.

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Living at the margins

What is life like for those living at the margins? From migration to poverty and life as a minority, our research explores the impacts of living at the margins.

Investigating the impact of social frontiers on the lives of migrants

Gwilym Pryce, Professor of Urban Economics and Social Statistics at the Sheffield Methods Institute, is leading a project to investigate whether migrants really have the opportunities and resources to feel part of wider society.

Dr Hannah Lambie-Mumford awarded new Leverhulme Fellowship to research food corporations and food charity

The project entitled 'Charity begins in the boardroom? Food corporations and food charity' began in 2020.

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Let affected communities co-design strategy to end youth violence in Sheffield, says report

Sheffield City Council should allow communities affected by knife crime to co-design strategies to reduce violence, according to a group of experts, local charities, youth organisations and members of the public.

Marginalised humans

Research from the iHuman research institute pays attention to the intersections of dis/ability, age, gender, sexuality, class, race, poverty and colonialism in order to expose and challenge social processes which push some human beings to the margins.

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Peace and conflict

Researchers across the Faculty of Social Sciences identify and analyse behaviours and mechanisms in peace and conflict around the world and work to understand the processes that lead to a more peaceful humanity.

Creating a safer global environment for journalists

Journalists face serious kinds of human rights abuse simply for trying to keep the public informed. Researchers at the University of Sheffield are developing a framework to improve data collection on the full range of violations against journalists and track trends to prevent future attacks.

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An illustration of a person slumped in a chair under a lightbulb

Where is the dignity in justice?

When someone is arrested and detained by the police they are innocent until proven guilty. But does our police custody system treat them as such? And how can notions of dignity improve police custody practices?

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