Heather A. Horst is sociocultural anthropologist at the University of California Humanities Research Institute, University of California, Irvine. Heather is an Associate Project Scientist for the Digital Media and Learning Research Hub and a Research Fellow in the MA Program in Digital Anthropology at University College London.

Heather’s research focuses upon the relationship between place, space and new media.  Specifically, her work explores transformations in the organization and understandings of family life in light of new media, material and consumer culture, and transnational migration. She is the co-author of The Cell Phone: An Anthropology of Communication (Horst and Miller, Berg, 2006), the first ethnography of mobile phones in the developing world, and Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with Digital Media (MIT Press, 2009, Ito, et. al.) that explores new forms of participation and learning in and through digital media. She is currently working on a manuscript, tentatively titled Coming of Age in Silicon Valley, that examines the relationship between communities, networks and society among youth and families living in the Silicon Valley region.

Heather’s research has been published in a range of journals, including Social Anthropology, Current Anthropology, Journal of Material Culture, Global Networks, Identities and the Caribbean Review of Gender Studies. She has been a guest editor for special issues of the Journal of Material Culture, International Journal of Cultural Studies and Home Cultures. 

Prior to joining University of California, Irvine, Heather held research positions at University of California, Berkeley, University of Southern California, University of the West Indies, Mona and University College London. She has a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of London, an MA in Anthropology from University of California, Santa Barbara and a BA in Anthropology from the University of Minnesota.

Contact Details:
Dr. Heather A. Horst
UC Humanities Research Institute
4000 Humanities Gateway Building
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-3350 USA
Email: hhorst uci.edu