Associate Professor
BA (hons.) (Oxon), MSc (Newcastle), PhD (Newcastle)
Cross-Appointed in the Department of Geography
Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Surveillance Studies
Director of the Surveillance Studies Centre
Email: dmw@queensu.ca
Office: Macintosh-Corry Hall, D522
Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext. 74490
Research Areas
I’m an interdisciplinary scholar of cities, security and surveillance. I’m happiest in the worlds of Surveillance Studies and Urban Studies, but I also feel quite at home amongst Human Geographers and Sociologists. Having started off in History, I also tend to want to start by looking for the roots of phenomena and the long-term trajectories. But I’ve also been an environmental and social justice activist so I also want my research to be relevant and potentially lead to changes for the better. And as a science fiction fan, I like speculation too…
- Surveillance Studies: history, technologies, politics, ethics and aesthetics of surveillance; international comparative studies; globalization of surveillance.
- ‘Smart Cities’ and Pervasive / Ubiquitous / Ambient Computing: ethics, politics, space and place.
- Urban Studies: global cities, particularly Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
- Risk and (In)security: public safety and policing; war, disaster, terrorism and crime; resilience.
- Literature and Film: depictions of surveillance and security, particularly in science fiction
- Theory: critical geographical approaches; political economy / political sociology; aesthetics and visibility; actor-network theory, assemblage theory, complexity.