Research, teaching and other work

Research

My specific research interests include inequalities in cultural work and cultural workers’ social media use. Much of my recent work has focused on inequalities and diversity in craft, and the work of socially engaged craft organisations.

Between 2018-2023 I led three consecutive Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Fellowship projects (combined value of £500,000) in collaboration with the Crafts Council. The projects were collectively known as Craft Expertise and they focused on the issue of inequalities and the lack of diversity in professional craft. The project involved several public dissemination events in the UK and Australia, an interdisciplinary workshop series with makers, two podcast series, the Making Changes in Craft report and the We Gather exhibition at Crafts Council Gallery. The work highlighted the prevalence of racism and microaggressions in contemporary craft, and the work that craft social enterprises do to create a sense of belonging, inclusion, and alternative pathways into craft. The research from these projects is published in my book, Craft as a Creative Industry. I have spoken about this on the New Books Network podcast with Professor Dave O’Brien.

These projects followed on from my PhD, in which I looked at how artists signal expertise on social media, and this work is published in my first book, The Politics of Expertise in Cultural Labour: Arts, Work and Inequalities. I have also spoken about this book on the New Books Network podcast.

Teaching

I designed and currently lead a Level 5 module on Creative Industries at BCU. I teach on a Level 5 cross-school module, Collaborative Practice, which allows students to devise their own creative projects on a given theme. I have taught research-informed sessions on race and ethnicity in the media, social media cultures, gender in the media, cultural theory and methods.

I am available to supervise PhD students interested in the creative industries, inequalities in cultural work and social media.

Citizenship and industry work

I am co-lead of Birmingham City University’s Centre for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts (CEDIA), a research cluster focused on researching inequalities in the arts and creative industries. I am also the EDI lead for CreaTech Frontiers, an AHRC Creative Industries Cluster led by BCU. I am co-editor of Makings, an open access journal for research on the creative industries and I am also a member of the AHRC Peer Review College and a member of the ICA Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Access (IDEA) Committee.

I am a board member of Culture Central and a community advisory board member for the Goldsmiths Centre. I was a founding member of the Crafts Council’s Equity Advisory Council.