Over the next few weeks, we’ll be posting brief biographies of the staff who teach on Criminology and Sociology programmes at YSJ. First up, we have Benedikt, who teaches on Sociology modules in Semester 1 and Criminology module in Semester 2:
‘I joined the recently established School of Psychological and Social Sciences in September 2016 as a Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology. As is perhaps suited to such a young school, I am also an earlier career researcher with broadly spanned interests across the social sciences. My main research focus is centred on social theory, financial industries, and both material and moral dimensions in the growing implementation of automation technology. In addition to this, I have previously conducted research on urban planning and the politics of public space. This study was ethnographic in nature and concentrated on crime prevention strategies in town centres. More recently, my PhD research dealt with the growth of automated financial trading activities with a focus on high-frequency trading – a special kind of automated trading, which employs algorithms to execute orders in financial markets at speeds beyond human capabilities.
Growing up in Germany and the Philippines, I moved on to study Applied Criminology at Canterbury Christ Church University, followed by postgraduate studies in Criminology at the University of Kent. Shortly after completion of my MA and having already taught on a number of Criminology modules at Canterbury Christ Church University, I received a part-time teaching position at London Metropolitan University across a range of courses in the social sciences. After moving to York in September 2015, I stepped in to lead modules on York St John’s ‘Children, Young People and Families’ programme, also contributing to the validation process of the new BA Criminology degree. For my PhD, I was awarded an EU funded joint doctoral fellowship between Hamburg University in Germany and Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
My current teaching at York St John spans across the criminology and sociology programmes, including modules on social inequalities, violence, prevention and punishment as well as victimology.’
This time next week, Dr. Matthew Spokes will be profiled.