My research interests span across two major areas: intersections across visual arts and dance, and enhancing Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.
Curriculum Redefined, University of Leeds
I am currently the Curriculum Redefined Fellow at University of Leeds in the School of Fine Art, History of Art, and Cultural Studies. Curriculum Redefined is a major 10-year project at University of Leeds which aims to redesign the University’s curriculums to better prepare students for the 21st Century. My role involves working closely with the Director of Student Education and the course leaders to enhance the study provision in the area of Fine Art.
Advancing Supervision for Artistic Research Doctorates
Prior to coming to Leeds, I developed an international research profile working towards quality enhancement in doctoral education in the arts. I collaborated with peers at Glasgow School of Art, Gerrit Rietveld Academie, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and EQ-Arts in the projects Advancing Supervision for Artistic Research Doctorates and Creator Doctus.
In Advancing Supervision for Artistic Research Doctorates (funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union), I worked closely with Prof. Henry Rogers to explore innovative supervisory approaches, doctoral policies, international best practices, peer learning, research training programmes, student wellbeing, and institutional, trans-institutional and trans-national research environments. Outputs include a non-normative performative audio-visual work, and the essay Situating Supervision in the Research Environment.
Creator Doctus
Creator Doctus (co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union) aims to support Higher Education Institutions to design effective 3rd Cycle PhD programmes. Its major output is the publication The Creator Doctus Constellation: Exploring a new model for a doctorate in the arts.
My work included collaborating with Prof. Henry Rogers and others in devising a manual of best practices in 3rd cycle education, and the analysis of the current state of the art of several PhD programmes across Europe, which resulted in the open access chapter Survey Analysis: European Practices in Artistic Research Doctorates.
Visioning the Future II
Previously at University College Cork (Ireland), as a postdoctoral researcher, I worked closely with Prof. Laura Rascaroli to create research-informed recommendations and policies for the development of the new Doctoral School in Film, Music, and Theatre. This project, entitled Visioning the Future II, was funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. To support colleagues, I produced an innovative open educational resource, detailing the challenges of implementing a new Doctoral School in Arts: Developing an Interdisciplinary Doctoral School: a Case Study.
Visioning the Future I
In my first postdoctoral position at University College Cork, I worked closely with Prof. Jools Gilson in the project Visioning the Future I, funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning. This project aimed to expand the Irish landscape of the PhD in Performing Arts and Film, positioning Ireland in the international discourse on doctoral education in the arts.
Major outputs include an educational resource for doctoral scholars – Artistic Doctorate Resources – and an International Seminar Series which brought together staff and students to explore key issues in doctoral education in artistic research.
Doctoral Research
My research interests include sculpture in the expanded field, performance, installation art, site-specificity, choreography, and dance in the museum.
My doctoral research explores interdisciplinary encounters between visual and performing arts. In my practice-based PhD, Performing Sites: Choreographic Approaches in Installation Practice, I investigated the choreographic in installation art focusing on performativity within site responsive contexts. Through a practice-based research approach, I produced five site-responsive installations to investigate how choreography contributes to and manifests in a visual art making process.
My artworks have been shown in partnership with several institutions in Scotland, Portugal, and England, including at the House for an Art Lover, The Work Room (Tramway), the Centre for Contemporary Arts (Glasgow) and the Reid Gallery to name a few. I presented my research at the International Journal of Art and Design Education Conference (2021), the National Association for Fine Art Education Symposium (University of Cumbria, 2016), the Light Moves Symposium (2017, Limerick, Ireland), and the University of Glasgow International Conference (2015).