Dr Simon Weaver
Reader
Marie Jahoda 203
- Email: simon.weaver@brunel.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 (0)1895 265029
- Social Science and Communications
- Social and Political Sciences
- College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences
Research area(s)
- Racist & offensive humour, humour & rhetoric;
- Comedy, populism and Brexit;
- Social & cultural theory, the work of Zygmunt Bauman, semiotics;
- Sociology of race, ethnicity & racism;
- Representations of disability and 'deformity' in media.
Research Interests
Simon’s research interests focus on a number of overlapping areas in sociology, communications and media studies. These are social and cultural theory, the work of Zygmunt Bauman, semiotics, representations of disability and ‘deformity’ in media, racist and offensive humour, humour and rhetoric, and the sociology of race, ethnicity and racism.
Most recently, Simon has been researching comedy about Brexit, the relationship between comedy and populism, and the ironies and ambiguities of Brexit discourse. This forms the subject of his latest book, The Rhetoric of Brexit Humour: Comedy, Populism and the EU Referendum (Routledge, 2021).
Research grants and projects
Grants
Funder: Brunel University London: Research Seminar Series Award
Duration: October 2018 - May 2019
Seminar Series
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council
Duration: April 2009 - March 2010
Postdoctoral Fellowship
Project details
Current:
Jokers, Creativity and Change: A Critical Analysis of the Role of the Joker in Organisations.
Completed:
Satire, Populism and Brexit
Funder: Centre for Global Lives (CGL), Brunel Univerity London
Duration: March to July 2019
Examining ‘Race’, Racism and Representation: An audience reception study of the comedy of Sacha Baron Cohen
Funder: Brunel Research Initiative & Enterprise Fund 2013/14 (BRIEF award), Brunel University London
Duration: January 2014 - March 2015