Bethany Nutbrown (she/her)
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
University Teacher in Digital Media and Society
Full contact details
School of Sociological Studies, Politics and International Relations
The Wave
2 Whitham Road
Sheffield
S10 2AH
- Profile
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Beth was awarded her PhD in The Department of Sociological Studies at Sheffield in May 2025. Her doctoral thesis explored ‘toxicity’ within gaming culture, specifically in the game League of Legends. Beth focused on how toxicity is interpreted and understood by a diverse, non-homogenous player base, and the strategies which are developed by players to navigate toxicity in gaming spaces.
She completed her BA in History at the University of Warwick, and an MSc in Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University before undertaking her PhD at
Sheffield.Beth previously worked the department as a GTA, starting in 2017, and joined the department as a full time Teaching Associate in 2022. She now works in the department as a University Teacher.
- Qualifications
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- BA in Modern History, 2:1, The University of Warwick, Department of History, September 2012-June 2015;
- MSc in Psychology, Merit, Manchester Metropolitan University, Department of Psychology, September 2015-August 2016.
- Research interests
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Beth’s research interests include:
gaming, gaming culture and society, gender, popular culture, participatory fan culture including cosplay, identity and digital media.
- Teaching interests
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Beth has taught on a range of module, including Introduction to Social Research, Doing Social Research, Digital Identities, Sociology of Crime, The Value of Sociology, Qualitative Research, and Social Divisions.
In 2025/26, Beth is leading Digital Identities (Level 3), Digital Media and Social Change (Level 2) and Introduction to Digital Research Methods (MA). Beth also supervises BA and MA Sociology and DMS dissertations.
Beth utilises relational elaboration, IBL and other student-focused teaching methods to encourage students to apply concepts and experiences to their own lives and acknowledge diverse lived experiences. Beth is committed to developing teaching which accesses multiple styles of learning, and especially enjoys and values helping students identify where their own experiences and identities can be understood through sociological thought, finding that this can help strengthen understanding of concepts in a practical and meaningful way.
- Teaching activities
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Beth currently teaches on:
- SPR207: Digital Media and Social Change
- SPR347: Digital Identities
- SPR124: Introduction to Digital Research Methods
- Dissertations in Sociology and Digital Media and Society
Beth has previous taught on:
- SCS1004: Social Divisions
- SCS1008: Introduction to Social Research
- SCS1015: Doing Social Research
- SCS2009: The Sociology of Crime
- SCS2020: Qualitative Research
- SCS3000: The Value of Sociology
Beth is committed to developing teaching which accesses multiple styles of learning, and especially enjoys and values helping students identify where their own experiences and identities can be understood through sociological thought, finding that this can help strengthen understanding of concepts in a practical and meaningful way.
- Professional activities and memberships
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Between 2017 and 2021 Beth worked as a Research Associate in The Department of Education at Sheffield University, working on a number of projects including:
Beth has worked as a Research Associate on the following projects:MakEY in Community Settings. Examining the possibilities offered by the use of an after-school club that aims to motivate marginalised children and young people towards the study of STEM.
MakEY in Libraries. An off-shoot of the MakEY project, which worked with three library services to provide makerspace workshops for 3-8 year olds.
Social Media, Television and Children. A collaborative study between The University of Sheffield, BBC Children's and Dubit. The full report is available to download here.
Children, Technology and Play (CTAP) Project. A collaborative and international project with Lego Education, The University of Sheffield, and The University of Cape Town investigating the relationship between technology and children's play. The full report is available to download here.
Beth has presented on her work at The Fantastic! Conference (Sheffield, 2019) and Global Digital Popular Culture Symposium (Sheffield, 2025)
- Publications
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Marsh, J., Murris, K., Ng’ambi, D., Parry, R., Scott, F., Thomsen, B.S., Bishop, J., Bannister, C., Dixon, K., Giorza, T., Peers, J., Titus, S., Da Silva, H., Doyle, G., Driscoll, A., Hall, L., Hetherington, A., Krönke, M., Margary, T., Morris, A., Nutbrown, B., Rashid, S., Santos, J., Scholey, E., Souza, L., and Woodgate, A. (2020) Children, Technology and Play. Billund, Denmark: The LEGO Foundation., (2020), Children, technology and play. The Lego Foundation.
Marsh, J., Law, L., Lahmar, J., Yamada-Rice, D, Parry, B., Scott, F., Robinson, P., Nutbrown, B., Scholey, E., Baldi, P., McKeown, K., Swanson, A., Bardill, R. (2019) Social Media, Television and Children. Sheffield: University of Sheffield.
Marsh, J., Wood, E., Chesworth, L., , Nisha, B., Nutbrown, B., & Olney, B. (2019) Makerspaces in early childhood education: Principles of pedagogy and practice, Mind, Culture, and Activity, 26:3, 221-233.
Nutbrown, B. (2019), 'The Stories Behind Artefacts', Fantastic! Zine, 1 [Based on the paper given by Beth at Fantastic! 2019 titled '"Have you seen my bear Tibbers?" Storying Video Game Artefacts'.].
Nutbrown, B. (2018), 'No Third Place for Video Games?: A Critique of Oldenburg’s Theory'. The Sheffield Student Journal for Sociology, 2 (Communities).