School of Humanities and Performing Arts: Staff Research

Digital Research Repository

Welcome to the School of Humanities and Performing Arts Staff Research Repository

The School of Humanities and Performing Arts is home to 40 researchers working across a number of disciplines: history, art history, anthropology, English, creative writing, music, computer music, theatre and performance. On this page, some of our researchers introduce themselves over short videos, sharing their research interests and current projects. Some videos have been made during the time of COVID-19 lockdown; the professional quality of these home-videos might be lacking, but the professional articulation of research remains. Queries from the press, those interested in PhD study, and the general public alike are welcome. Contact information for all staff can be found at the bottom of this page.

Professsor Anthony Caleshu
Associate Head of School, Research

Due to COVID-19, our celebratory May research showcase has had to be postponed. But we’ve asked a few of our researchers working on print culture to offer mini-presentations, featured upfront here for your enjoyment and intellectual curiosity.

Professor David Finkelstein

Professor of Cultural History and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business, David works across disciplines, and in this video talks about his research interest in 19th century print culture.

Dr Miriam Darlington

Dr Miriam Darlington, Lecturer in English and Creative Writing, talks about her writing for The Nature Notebook column in The Times newspaper.

Professor Daniel Maudlin

Professor Daniel Maudlin, Researcher and Lecturer in History and Cultural Heritage, talks about the natural world experienced through early modern itineraries, travel maps and inns.

Dr Jameson Tucker

Dr Jameson Tucker, Lecturer in Early Modern European History 1500-1700, talks about his research focusing on martyrology and the French reformation.

Dr James Gregory

Dr James Gregory, Associate Professor of Modern British History, talks about researching the history of mercy in British culture.

English

Professor Angela K Smith

Professor of Modern Literature, Angela talks about her research and publications relating to women’s writing and experience of the first world war, women’s suffrage and war and memory

Dr Mandy Bloomfield

Associate Professor in Modern and Contemporary Literature, Dr Mandy Bloomfield describes how her research explores environmental questions through literary study.

Dr David Sergeant

Dr David Sergeant, Associate Professor of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature, talks about his research into how fiction has developed.

Dr Min Wild

Dr Min Wild, Lecturer in English, specialises in 18th century literature, language usage, and satire. Here, she talks about her work on the poet-journalist Christopher Smart.

History

Dr Simon Topping

Dr Simon Topping, Associate Professor of United States history, talks about his research into African American soldiers during the second world war - a topic built into the third year module on African American history and civil rights.

Dr Harry Bennett

Dr Harry Bennett, Associate Professor of History, talks about his research into second world war coastal convoys.

Dr Elaine Murphy

Dr Elaine Murphy, Associate Professor of Maritime and Naval History, talks about her research into the British Civil Wars in the 1640s and 1650 and the role of women in naval history.

Professor James Daybell

Professor of Early Modern British History and Associate Dean for research of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business, James talks about his research on early modern British gender, political and material culture.

Dr Peter Bokody

Dr Peter Bokody, Lecturer in Art History and a specialist of the Italian Renaissance, talks about his research in medieval and renaissance art.

Creative Writing

Professor Anthony Caleshu

Professor of Poetry and Creative Writing, Anthony talks about his writing, editing and research of contemporary poetry, as well as his teaching of creative writing in this short video.

Performance

Dr Phil Smith

Dr Phil Smith, Associate Professor (Reader) in Theatre and Performance, specialising in the fields of site-specific and physical theatre, walking, mythogeographies and counter-tourism.

Dr Ruth Way

Dr Ruth Way is Associate Professor in Theatre and Performance, Associate Head of School Performing Arts and Co-Director of Plymouth Conservatoire. In this video she talks about her research into movement and dance.

Professor Roberta Mock

Professor of Performance Studies and Director of the Doctoral College, Roberta’s research interests include genders, sexualities, and Jewishness in Theatre and Performance Studies.

Dr Alex Cahill

Dr Alex Cahill, Programme Lead for BA Directing and BA Drama and Theatre Practice degrees at Plymouth Conservatoire, University of Plymouth. Here she talks about her research into theatre for good.

Dr John Matthews

Dr John Matthews, Associate Professor in Theatre, talks about his research on training into performance.

Computer Music

Professor Eduardo Miranda

Professor in Computer Music, Eduardo talks about RadioMe – a new Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)-funded project to improve life for people living at home with dementia.

Dr Edward Braund

Dr Ed Braund, Lecturer in Computing, Audio, and Music Technology, talks about his research into computer audio.

Satvik Venkatesh

PhD student, Satvik, talks about his resarch in audio segmentation.

Contact information