I am currently the Head of Westminster School of Arts, University of Westminster, having previously been Head of Research Programmes at the Royal College of Art and Senior Lecture in Fashion at Middlesex University.
I am an experienced manager, teacher and academic, my own research specialism being across textile practices and feminisms. This research focuses around the capacity of textile practices to act as metaphor and material for thinking through what it means to be community in a transnational context. I have two recent publications that speak into this research: A Philosophy of Textile: between practice & theory (Bloomsbury 2022) and Transnational Belonging: Female Agency in the Arts (edited collection; Bloomsbury 2022).
I am committed to research-led teaching and pedagogies across the arts and design, with a strong belief that the curiosity and hunches that underpin innovative research brings excitement and energy into the ‘classroom’ space. Graduates from art and design disciplines need to be agile and curious, able to apply their particular skills and knowledges to a range of different settings; research-led teaching offers this capacity from both practice and theoretical perspectives.
I have sat on several governing bodies and trustee boards in a variety of contexts; these have all had an educative element, building upon my background in secondary teaching. I am delighted and honoured to act as trustee for CHEAD and look forward to working with the teams and CHEAD members in the coming years.
