Originally from Yorkshire, I have lived in Manchester since coming to university in 1998 and the city is my adopted hometown. Sociology is not simply a job for me; I am ‘a Sociologist’ and it is part of my identity. My passion for the discipline comes from its potential to help us understand and challenge social inequalities. This has driven my research interests, which focus on young people and social class. I am an advocate of collaborative research and a member of the ‘Res-Sisters’ feminist collective. On a personal level, I love music, contemporary novels and cheesy horror films. I also enjoy yoga and travelling to diverse places; New York, Tuscany and the Orkney Islands are some recent favourites.
I remember very clearly learning about the work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu when I was a second year undergraduate. His work on the role of culture in reproducing inequality encapsulates everything I love about Sociology: the pulling apart of what is taken-for-granted. I call this my 'lightbulb moment' when my 'sociological imagination' was captured and I could reflect on both my own experiences and wider social life in a new and exciting way. I teach Sociology because I want to spark these lightbulb moments in others, to encourage students to look at the world around them differently, and hopefully change it for the better.
“I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.” ― Toni Morrison
My teaching method is to balance critical pedagogy, which challenges how students see the world and act to change it, with a student-led, active approach. I’ll prompt you to leave ‘common-sense’ understandings of the social world behind by introducing you to sociological perspectives and research, and then guide you to develop your own ideas based on critique and evaluation. Reading is absolutely critical for studying sociology, so I’ll encourage you to read widely, but it’s also a practical discipline. Rather than tell students everything about a topic, my aim is to equip you with the empirical, theoretical and methodological tools to engage with real-life issues as sociologists. I am also working towards deconstructing my reading lists so that they don’t only feature the work of ‘old white men’ and instead promote diverse voices including working class, Black and feminist scholars.
(2010) PhD Sociology University of Manchester
(2005) MSc Sociological Research University of Manchester
(2001) BA(Econ)(Hons) Sociology (First Class) University of Manchester
(2012 – 2014) Research Associate to Head of Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
(2011 – 2012) Lecturer (Teaching Focused), Sociology, University of Manchester
(2009 – 2011) Research Associate (with teaching responsibilities), Sociology, University of Manchester
(2006 – 2009) Graduate Teaching Assistant, Sociology / Social Sciences, University of Manchester.
Contemporary British Society (Co-Unit Leader) - Term 1
The Sociological Imagination (Unit Lecturer) - Term 1
3rd supervisor for Charlene Crossley (Crime and Youth Transitions)
I would be interested in supervising PhD students in the following areas (from 2017/18 onwards):
* Social class (particularly with regards to culture, consumption and identity)
* Youth transitions
* Social mobility and education
Cultural class analysis
Cosmopolitanism
Youth and education
New media research / digital social research
Contibuted to recent work on Great British Class Survey project.
Organising member of Digital Methods as Social Science research network.
Co-convenor of BSA's Youth Study Group
H. Snee (2014). A cosmopolitan journey? Difference, distinction and identity work in gap year travel.
M. Savage, N. Cunningham, F. Devine, S. Friedman, D. Laurison, et al. L. McKenzie, A. Miles, H. Snee, P. Wakeling. (2015). Social Class in the 21st Century. Pelican Books.
H. Snee, C. Hine, Y. Morey, S. Roberts, H. Watson (2015). Digital Methods for Social Science: An Interdisciplinary Guide to Research Innovation. H. Snee, C. Hine, Y. Morey, S. Roberts, H. Watson. Palgrave Macmillan.
H. Snee (2014). A cosmopolitan journey? Difference, distinction and identity work in gap year travel.
H. Snee, F. Devine (2018). Fair chances and hard work? Families making sense of inequality and opportunity in 21st-century Britain. British Journal of Sociology. 69(4), pp.1134-1154.
F. Devine, H. Snee (2015). Doing the Great British Class Survey. Sociological Review. 63(2), pp.240-258.
M. Savage, F. Devine, N. Cunningham, S. Friedman, D. Laurison, et al. A. Miles, H. Snee, M. Taylor. (2014). On Social Class, Anno 2014. Sociology.
R. Procter, R. Williams, J. Stewart, M. Poschen, H. Snee, et al. A. Voss, M. Asgari-Targhi. (2010). Adoption and use of Web 2.0 in scholarly communications. Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 368(1926), pp.4039-4056.
N. Hookway, H. Snee (2019). Blogs in Social Research. In: Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences. Springer Singapore, pp.1353-1368.
N. Ingram, . The Resisters, H. Snee (2018). Mobilising a Feminist Manifesta: Critical reflections on challenging and being challenged in the neoliberal academy. In: Strategies for Resisting Sexism in the Academy Higher Education, Gender and Intersectionality. Springer,
N. Cunningham, F. Devine, H. Snee (2017). ‘A Classless Society?’ Making Sense of Inequalities in the Contemporary United Kingdom with theGreat British Class Survey. In: Inequalities in the UK. Emerald Publishing Limited, pp.77-100.
N. Hookway, H. Snee (2017). The Blogosphere. In: Sage Handbook of Online Research Methods.
H. Snee, F. Devine (2015). Young People’s Transitions to Employment: Making Choices, Negotiating Constraints. In: Handbook of Children and Youth Studies. Springer Singapore, pp.543-555.
. The Res-Sisters I'm an early career feminist academic : get me out of here?. R. Thwaites, A. Godoy-Pressland.. In: Feminist Beginnings: Being an Early Career Feminist Academic in a Changing Academy. Palgrave Macmillan,
H. Snee (2012). Innovations in Youth Research. S. Heath, C. Walker. In: Innovations in Youth Research. Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp.178-194.
H. Snee (2014). Silva, J. M.Coming Up Short: Working‐Class Adulthood in an Age of UncertaintyOxford University Press2013 192 pp. £19.99 (hardback). The British Journal of Sociology. 65, 580-581.
(2014) ‘Digital Methods as Mainstream Methodology?’ Personal Development Workshop at British Academy of Management Conference, Belfast, September 2014.
(2013) ‘Analysing Blogs’ Workshop, NSMNSS One Year On, NatCen, Royal Statistical Society, London, April 2013.
(2012) ‘Making ethical decisions in an online context: reflections on using blogs to explore narratives of experience’, NCRM Research Methods Festival, University of Oxford, July 2012.
(2012) ‘Qualitative blog analysis: opportunities and challenges’, Blurring the boundaries: new social media, new social science? NCRM Network for Methodological Innovation Launch Event, NatCen, Royal Statistical Society, London ,May 2012.
(2012) ‘Making ethical decisions in an online context’, SRA Social Research and Social Media Conference, March 2012.
(2011), ‘Working with Digital Archives’ (Panel Member), Humanities Digital Network, University of Manchester, March 2011.
(2011), ‘Web 2.0 in social science research: a case study in qualitative blog analysis’, SRA Social Research and Social Media Conference, London, February 2011.
(2011) ‘What is blog analysis?’, methods@manchester, University of Manchester, January 2011.
(2010) ‘Framing Gap Year Places: representations of difference in online travel narratives’, Auras of Place Workshop, Morgan Centre, University of Manchester, March 2010.
(2008) ‘Web 2.0 as a Social Science Research Tool’, NCeSS Seminar Series, University of Manchester, December 2008.
Member of Scientific Committee for Journal of Youth Studies Conference 2015.
Reviews for Sociology; Sociological Research Online; The Sociological Review; Journal of Sociology; Qualitative Research; YOUNG; Cultural Trends; Qualitative Research in Psychology; Health Informatics Journal; Journal of Health Psychology.
(2011) ‘Digital Methods as Mainstream Methodology’ (Co-Investigator), ESRC National Centre for Research Methods Networks for Methodological Innovation Programme (£11,746).
(2008) ESRC Government Placement Scheme: three-month funded placement at the British Library.
My book A Cosmopolitan Journey? Difference, Distinction and Identity Work in Gap Year Travel (Ashgate, 2014) was short-listed for the 2015 BSA Philip Abrahams Memorial Prize for the best first and sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology.
Member of the British Sociological Association and co-covenor of the BSA Youth Study Group