ACADEMIC PROFILE:
PhD, University of Warwick, 2008
Research: My research interests fall within the broad domains of language and communication, science and technology studies, and higher education studies. I am also interested in environment / sustainability research (through my association with the Centre for Sustainability Transitions).
My current research explores the impact of generative AI on higher education. A project launched in 2024 examines recent (post-ChatGPT) trends at Stellenbosh University, focusing specifically on the debate on the use of generative AI in academic domains, AI policy development processes, and the impact of generative AI across the foundational university division between the natural sciences and the humanities.
Supervision: At honours, masters and PhD level, I am willing to supervise projects that dovetail with my research interests, as described above. I will, however, give priority to proposals – particularly at PhD level – that complement my current research on the social implications of emerging digital technologies.
Teaching: I currently teach two undergraduate modules and one postgraduate module. At undergraduate level, I convene the second-year Sociology of Communication module (S242) and the third-year Environmental Sociology (S334). At postgraduate level, I co-convene the MA Research Design and Proposal Writing (S871) module.
Website: https://sun.academia.edu/LloydHill
Selected Publications:
Hill, L. (2024). Semantic (dis)continuity and institutional transformation: The decline of Afrikaans at Stellenbosch University. Language & Communication, 98, 12-31 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0271530924000351).
Manyani, A., Biggs, R., Hill, L., & Preiser, R. (2024). The evolution of social-ecological systems (SES) research: a co-authorship and co-citation network analysis. Ecology and Society, 29(1) (https://ecologyandsociety.org/vol29/iss1/art33/).
Lloyd Hill (2019) “Language, ethno-nationalism and the South African university”, in Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, 7(1): 41–79.
Gugulethu Siziba and Lloyd Hill (2018) “Language and the geo-politics of (dis)location: a study of Zimbabwean Shona and Ndebele speakers in Johannesburg”, Language in Society, 47: 115–139.
Lloyd Hill and Analia Meo (2015) “A Bourdieusian approach to academic reading: reflections on a South African teaching experience”, Teaching in Higher Education, 20(8): 845-856.
Recent op-eds:
Lloyd Hill “What one university’s 30-year transformation reveals about Afrikaans and language planning in South Africa”, in The Conversation, 14 January 2025 (https://theconversation.com/what-one-universitys-30-year-transformation-reveals-about-afrikaans-and-language-planning-in-south-africa-242709).
Lloyd Hill “The Queen’s Gambit and the myth of the chess genius”, in the Daily Maverick, 9 February 2021” ( https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-02-09-the-queens-gambit-and-the-myth-of-the-chess-genius/).