History of design PhD | History of art PhD

Nicola Ashmore's supervisory interests focus on creative interventions and curatorial practice, notably the means through which this can leverage change and collaborative activism. 

Nicola would welcome makers and practitioners and those working with collections and archives in their doctoral projects. She brings a wealth of experience in her supervision in communicating research findings through a wide range of platforms from documentary film, exhibition practice, to online and offline publications. Nicola has taken an interdisciplinary approach to her investigations into museum practices and community based collaborative practices and would encourage enquiries from those who push at the boundaries of their chosen disciplines. 

I am interested in supervising PhDs on histories of art, design and the urban environment; government or official uses of art and design, graphic design histories; art, design and dress for propaganda and protest; art, design and diplomacy; and exhibition and display histories. If you are planning a project that is connected to my research but not listed here feel free to contact me to discuss it further. 

My current and former PhD students have focused on themes including political poster design; protest dress; Cold War photobooks; conscientious objector art practises; clothing production and consumption during World War Two; and museum exhibition design. I have examined five PhDs to date.

Sue is based at the University of Brighton Design Archives and supervises research using archives in art and design history and practice; and on twentieth century British art and design and their contexts, with a particular focus on the mid-century. She supervises Masters and Doctorate projects, and is happy to hear from potential students with complementary interests.

Yunah is keen to supervise research projects on trans/national identities and networks of design and visual/material culture and repressentations of design and visual/material culture in magazines and exhibitions. She especially welcomes enquires about projects on craft, design and visual/material culture in and from the East Aisan region including China, Korea, and Japan. 

Professor Newbury is interested in supervising PhD projects related to his main areas of interest in photography, history, politics and memory, especially but not exclusively those with a focus on Africa. He also welcomes enquiries from applicants interested in researching any aspect of the history or practice of documentary and community photography and photographic education in Britain and elsewhere, and is open to proposals that encompass a range of historical, archival, theoretical and practice-led approaches to photography and visual culture.

He has supervised 25 PhD students to completion across photography history, theory and practice, as well as projects related to art education, public art and visual culture, and several Collaborative Doctoral Awards, including with Birmingham City Council, Belfast Exposed gallery and the Imperial War Museum. He has examined more than 30 PhDs, including at University of the Arts London, University of Cape Town, Edith Cowan University, Goldsmiths College, University of Greenwich, Tshwane University of Technology and University of the Western Cape.

Charlotte has supervised one PhD student to completion and has two current PhD students. She is eager to supervise PhD projects on 19th- and 20th-century dress, fashion, and textile history topics and welcomes enquiries.

Dr Ceren Özpınar has supervised two PhDs to completion, and currently supervises three PhD students at Brighton, who work on subjects in lesser-known women artists in the 20th century, feminism in the museum, representation of lesbian lives in collections, and transnational art and design practices. She has examined one PhD to date.

Ceren would be interested in supervising PhD projects on feminist and queer approaches to art; transnational art histories; narratives of difference; memory and materiality. She would also welcome proposals interested in researching any aspect of the project of decolonising the history of art and exhibitions, particularly but not exclusively, in the Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and North African geographies.

Ceren also hosts visiting doctoral researchers on a regular basis. If you are working on a PhD project at another institution related to her research expertise and would like to be supervised by her at Brighton for a short period (up to a year), feel free to contact her.

I have enjoyed supervising 6 doctoral students to completion, candidates who have worked on subjects in modern British art history, or in projects relating to feminist or queer approaches to visual interpretation or production. I have supervised and examined candidates who have undertaken phd work by practice or prior publication. I would particularly like to encourage applications from prospective phd students who would like to pursue projects that interpret British art and visual practices using intersectional feminist perspectives including decolonization and transnational approaches.

Annebella supervises PhD projects in visual and material culture; photographic history, theory and practice; Mass Observation; museum cultures; modern British art and design history; non-elite design and dress history; everyday / vernacular / folk cultural practices and countercultures. She is currently supervising eight PhD students and has supervised ten PhDs to completion, including several in museum partnerships. She has examined over 25 PhDs, including practice-led doctorates, internationally. She is currently welcoming new PhD students.

I would be delighted to supervise research projects that focus on the politics of modernisation through design in postcolonial contexts, the histories of design and craft in South Asia, art, design and politics in India and modernisms beyond the west.

I am currently supervising PhD research projects on Australian aboriginal textile production (Design Star funded); technology and the experience of art in contemporary museums, and museum engagement with South Asian communities in the UK (CDP with British Museum). 

I am interested in supervising doctoral projects broadly relating to the design, manufacture and consumption of fashion and textiles, and the collection and display of dress and textiles in museums. The application of creative research methodologies, including dress reconstruction and storytelling would be welcome. 

Dr Wintle welcomes enquiries about projects on museums, exhibition design, collecting, cultural forms of imperialism, nationalism and decolonisation, especially in Britain, and the material and visual culture of South Asia.

Claire has supervised three PhDs to completion and currently supervises eight AHRC-funded PhD students. She has examined postgraduate theses at SOAS, Leicester University, Royal Holloway, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Southampton and a further five PhDs at the University of Brighton. Her students focus on themes ranging from British South Asian community engagement with museums to the professional experiences of museum staff working to decolonise practice. She works with colleagues at the British Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Horniman Museum and the V&A to supervise Collaborative Doctoral Projects on subjects including the British Museum's relationships with museums in West Africa, South Asian donors to the British Museum, exhibition design at the British Museum and Korean collections at the V&A. She also works with colleagues at Shiv Nagar University in India to supervise a PhD project on Bihar Museum.