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Tyler Shores

Tyler is an Intellectual Forum Senior Research Associate. 

Having worked at Google Authors, served as a director for an international nonprofit organisation, and, most recently, working in online education at Stanford University, Tyler Shores researches keenly the interaction between technology and society.

He maintains a particular interest in the experience of reading in print and digital mediums, digital technology in education, and the cultural impact of social media.

Most recently, Tyler has published on social media and celebrity advocacy, online culture, and philosophy, with his most recent work considering "The Use of Celebrity Men in Anti-Trafficking and Ending Demand Interventions: Observations on the ‘Real Men Don’t Buy Girls’ Public Service Campaign" (Palgrave, 2017). 

What are you working on now?

I currently research digital distractions, social media, and how they influence how we read and work. I teach a variety of topics throughout the University, including academic social media use, education technology, and other digital academic skills. At the moment I’m working on a book on digital distractions that I hope to complete during this year. 

I sincerely love being able to collaborate on projects that bring different people and parts of the University together — if you have something interesting and relevant to my work you’d like to chat more about, drop me a line! (ts650@cam.ac.uk

How has your career to date led to this?

Before Cambridge, I helped to run a lecture and event series called Authors@Google at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Having worked in tech, education, and nonprofit sectors, I have always appreciated the ways in which connecting experts and thinkers in different fields can have a lasting impact. I was thrilled to discover the Intellectual Forum and hope to have more unique events and projects that bring together people from many different intellectual interests and backgrounds. 

What one thing would you most want someone to learn from what you’ve done or are doing now?

Having had such a varied background, I think there is a lot of value in being able to think outside of our comfort zones — and also being able to think of ourselves beyond simply This Title, or That Role. A university is a very unique kind of place, and the different ways that we can, sometimes unexpectedly, bring together our interests and expertise can be a wonderful thing. 

What do you think of Jesus College and the Intellectual Forum?

I love that we’ve been able to coordinate some truly interesting events and activities as part of the Intellectual Forum. Sometimes, doing things a little differently can be a very good thing — and I think that is one of the great virtues of the Intellectual Forum. The kind of intellectual community building we are able to do here is a vital part of what makes Jesus College and Cambridge University unique. 

You can meet the rest of the Intellectual Forum team or contact us via email.