| PhD Students PhD students working under the aegis of the VCRG Stephanie Black: Research Project: The work and the writer: Can Roland Barthes' concept of a 'writerly text' be utilised in the development and theorisation of intellectually engaging illustration? This project's relevance lies in addressing issues of authorail responsibility regarding 'message', a frequent topic in the graphic design press alongside responsibility for sustainable design. Here, Foucault and Althusser offer alternative viewpoints on the role of the communicator. While debates regarding authorship in graphic design founder on the principle of serving a client, illustration's oscillation between fine art and graphic design (in part due to current working practices) suggests wider permutations of authorship. The topic of this research spans the gap between perceptions of fine art and design and may increase possibilities for the exchange of ideas and practices (eg Poyner, 2005). Examining theoretical concepts and their relationship to practice will extend methodological debate, addressing the limits of theory regarding practice-integrated research. Stephanie is funded by an AHRC Doctoral Award. Supervisory team: Barbara Hawkins, Gary Embury , Clare Johnson, Roger Conlon Arantxa Echarte: Research Project: The development and articulation of a new theoretical position from which to critique the work of contemporary practioners whose work embraces methodologies from such science-based disciplines as archaeology or ethnography. This research project will consider new theoretical positions offered by specific art practices which are perceived to be trans-disciplinary in either concept, process or output. Supervisory team: Andrew Spicer, Iain Biggs, Clare Johnson Kerstin Elisabet Frimodig: Research Project: An honourable practice: the artist’s print as a strategy for social engagement This research project will investigate the ways in which the artist’s socially engaged print is situated in an historical, cultural and socio-economical context. The research will look at the making of the print from the artist’s individual experience as well as within the ethos of a print studio and collaboration. Supervisory team: Richard Anderton, Sue Tate, Stephen Hoskins Mosco Kamwendo: Research Project: 'The role of the screenwriter in the development of Zimbabwean cinema’. The aim of this research project is to analyse the importance of choice of story and techniques of screen writing in the development of film as an art form and as a way of communicating effectively with audiences. Mosco’s research will investigate this issue in relation to African cinema, but through a specific focus on Zimbabwean cinema (which has not been the subject of detailed analysis) in order to be manageable and to analyse issues in depth. This study aims to increase an understanding of the importance of screenwriting (a relatively neglected topic) within film studies and to contribute to a more informed understanding of African cinema. Supervisory team: Andrew Spicer, Barbara Hawkins, Imruh Bakari (University of Winchester) Matthew Robinson Research Project: The British Bio-pic: screening lives from 1910-2010 The focus of this research is on the ways in which the monarchy has dominated the bio-pic genre in Britain and the privileging of the lives of queens in bio-pic narratives despite the fact that the British monarchy is, historically, overwhelmingly male. What are the ideological and aesthetic issues at stake in these representations? What kind of popular histories does this cultural investment produce? How is the female monarch deployed to negotiate cultural tensions in the constitution of national identity, gender, race or ethnicity? What does the persona of specific stars bring to female monarchical bio-pic narratives? Can the spectacle of female-centred royal bio-pics be compared to the “woman’s film” in its appeal to feminine subjectivity? Supervisory team: Josie Dolan, Estella Tincknell, Andrew Spicer Clair Schwarz: Research Project: ‘Masculinity, class and place in the work of Shane Meadows’. ‘The aim of the study is to investigate the representation of masculinity, class and region within the work of Shane Meadows, an important yet marginalised film-maker. The analysis will be conducted through a series of detailed case studies of his films situated within the broader context of the representations of masculinity, class and region in British cinema and will critique existing paradigms for analysing images of males.’ Supervisory team: Andrew Spicer, Estella Tincknell, Josephine Dolan Jeremy Walton: Research Project: Archaeological aesthetics: a critique of the use and meaning of preliminary artworks and other supplementary material This research project will investigate a system of designating and classifying works of art, through a study of the value, and role, of preparatory works in the work of the artist. The research will examine the conventional and contemporary values attached to the artistic process, and the importance of the private 'withholding' of work by an artist, in relation to what they themselves make available to the public. It will also explore the changing attitudes to of galleries towards preliminary works. Supervisory team: Andrew Spicer, Roy Voss, Gary Peters (University of York St. John) Completed PhDs: Julia Moszkovich: ‘Phenomenology, New Media and Graphic Design Criticism: a Re-evaluation of Historical Processes’; May 2009. Matthew Partington: ‘London Coffee Bars 1952-1964: A Cultural History’, June 2007 David Mann: ‘An Industrial and Cultural History of Selected British Crime Supporting Features and Filmed Television Series 1946-1964’; May 2006. A revised version has been published in 2009 by the Edward Mellen Press: Britain’s First TV/Film Crime Series and the Industrialisation of its Film Industry, 1946-1964. Top of page |
Quick Links: PhD Students: Stephanie Black Arantxa Echarte Kerstin Elisabet Frimodig Mosco Kamwendo Matthew Robinson Clair Schwarz Jeremy Walton Related links: Research Degree Programme at SCA PhD Studentships Junior Fellowships |
