Creative and Cultural Industries

Why this research matters

The research around creative and cultural industries goes beyond what would normally be considered as the arts and humanities. Our research brings to life in visual ways key topics and concepts that spark conversations and highlight their significance within society. It is about enriching lives and communities. We develop ways for partners to commercialise ideas and enable the making and sharing of research in a cultural, dynamic and impactful way.

Our vision and approach

We are working to build a creatively and culturally connected Derby, which has regional, national and international relevance and significance. Covering a breadth of expertise from arts to media, to journalism and the humanities, and design and entrepreneurship, we are making significant contributions to research, cultural policy, agenda and practice. Our trans-, inter-, and multi-disciplinary research community aims to build a socially responsive and engaged creative and cultural sector.

Our research spans many subjects and themes of inquiry, such as the creative approaches to climate change, ethics, animal studies, the making and dissemination of contemporary and historic artefacts, and the curation of historic collections. We are offering new approaches and inspiring and innovative ideas to these knowledges to inform contemporary discourses and debates.

As a research team, we have extensive expertise in a range of areas, and we often work with colleagues and partners in areas such as technology, medicine, and the natural sciences to enhance our research community and research solutions. As this wider community, we creatively engage with local and national civic agendas and deliver impact and knowledge exchange through partnerships and networks.

Our research

Learn how our research within the creative and cultural industries research theme interacts with other research areas, and discover how an enhanced approach can be met through this interaction.

Discover our current research:

Research theme leads

Professor Ang Bartram

Professor of Contemporary Art

Ang works as an artist and artistic researcher. Her research focuses on documentation as an act of ephemeral art process, and with animality and empathy (as acted and/or intuitively behaved) in human-animal companion-species relationships.

Professor John Steel

Research Professor in Journalism

John is Research Professor in Journalism and his role is to support research activities across the School and wider university. He has interests in a variety of research areas including journalism ethics and regulation, political communication, media history and journalism education.

Members of the academic theme steering group

Dr Robert Burstow

Associate Professor of History and Theory of Art

As Associate Professor of History and Theory of Art, Dr Robert Burstow leads students undertaking post-graduate research in Arts and supervises PhD students researching the history and theory of art and/or contemporary Fine Art practice. He also teaches on the BA (Hons) Fine Art and MA Fine Art programmes. He has published extensively on the history of twentieth-century British art.

Professor Huw Davies

Professor of Lens Media

Huw Davies is a researcher and PhD supervisor in the School of Arts. He is especially interested in the creative and cultural industries and conducts a professional practice as a filmmaker, photographer and curator.

Professor Paul Elliott

Professor of Modern History

Paul is a Professor of Modern History and Research Lead for the Humanities.

Dr Cath Feely

Senior Lecturer in History

Cath is a lecturer in modern British and European history and heritage, with research interests in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British Cultural, Social and Intellectual History.