Brian Heaphy

Professor of Sociology, Sociology, University of Manchester
I have a first degree in Cultural Studies and a PhD in Sociology. Prior to working at Manchester I held lectureships at the University of Leeds and Nottingham Trent University, and was a research fellow at London South Bank University.

My teaching has included courses on gender and sexuality, families, relationships and social change, personal life, social theory, research methods and methodologies.

My research and publications has focused on the implications of social change for living with HIV; same sex intimacies; 'given' and chosen' families; ageing sexualities; friendships and other critical associations; theorising personal life; the links between sexualities and class; marriage and formalised partnerships, and qualitative research methods. With colleagues I am currently researching dating app use prior to, during and after Covid 19 restrictions.

As well as the above, I have organised and provided training and capacity building workshops and events for the Realities node of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods.

Previously, as Head of Sociology, I worked with colleagues on initiatives to build further the dynamic teaching and research culture of Sociology at Manchester. As the previous Director Research in the School of Social sciences, which includes, Economics, Politics, Philosophy, Social Anthropolgy, Social Statistics and Sociology I worked with colleagues to further develop the excellent research culture of the School. I have recently stepped down from a 5 year stint as Head of School and Vice Dean and am on research leave.

Currently, my theoretical and research interests are focused on the interaction of identities, relationships and diverse ways of living in the context of social change.

I am interested in theories of social and cultural change, and in arguments about the contemporary reconfiguration of 'the social' and personal life. I have researched the implications of social change for how we conceive 'the social' and 'personal life' through ESRC funded projects on sexualities and gender, families and intimacies, ageing, research methods and dating app use. I have studied and written about living with HIV, same sex intimacies, ageing sexualities, sexuality and class, friendships, civil partnerships and same-sex marriages, and divorce. With colleagues I am currently writing a book on on relationship dissolution and divorce, as well as articles form an ESRC funded study of dating app use..

I was a member of the Realities research methods team which was linked to the ESRC's National Centre for Research Methods, and a founding member as well as co-Director of the Morgan Centre for the Study of Everyday Life.