SHL Digital is pleased to announce that Dr Judith Townend from the School of Law, Politics, and Sociology (LPS) has joined the management team as joint director. This interim appointment will invigorate the existing links with researchers in LPS and hopefully create new ones. It will also create capacity within the Centre’s management team with LPS contributing dedicated time to support Judith’s new role in SHL Digital. 

Commenting on the appointment Judith says: 

“I’m delighted to be joining the SHL Digital team as a co-director. I’ve been on the fringes and then more closely involved in Sussex Digital Humanities Lab since I joined Sussex in 2016 and am now eager to further develop the links between our research in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology and that of colleagues in SHL Digital."

We further asked Judith about her motivation and plans for working within SHL Digital: “In particular, I’ll be looking to share ideas about research methodologies and policy development and collaborate on funding bids and joint events. We held one such event in January 2024: an AI research sandpit, which has already led to some new connections and conversations across the social sciences and humanities, as well as engineering and informatics.”  

Talking about what SHL Digital means to her as a researcher, Judith says  “I have always loved that SHL Digital has a physical base in the ‘lab’room, and an intellectually stimulating and genuinely interdisciplinary series of regular events, and I’m excited to be part of SHL’s next phase as a Sussex Centre of Excellence.”

Judith is a Reader in Digital Society and Justice. Her research focuses on public access to information, the protection and regulation of public interest journalism, and broader issues of freedom of expression. Judith's work on media, communications and information law is interdisciplinary and uses socio-legal methods and approaches from the social sciences and humanities to understand legal and policy developments.

Judith is a long-standing and valued member of the lab. This interim appointment will create much needed capacity within the directorship team whilst co-directors are away on their research leave. 

You can contact Judith by email judith.townend@sussex.ac.uk