Kirsty joined King’s College London as a part-time LAHP funded PhD student in 2019. 

Research Project

Proposed Title: UK-EU Changing Relationship and its Impact on UK National Museums: A study of the time period 1991-2021

Supervisors

• Dr Serena Iervolino 
• Dr Hye-Kyung Lee 

Biography

Kirsty is a recognised Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) with three years experience of teaching at the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries. Modules taught including 5AAIC005 Cultural Policy and Governance, 4AAIC008 Museums and Heritage: The Basics and 4AAIC005 Creative Institutions and Industries: Policy and Politics.

Her UK policy, politics and governance knowledge has been enhanced by two years of experience as a Research Assistant at the House of Lords with Peers, The Rt Hon. Baroness Chakrabarti CBE & The Baroness Bull CBE. Her most recent work has included preparing and presenting research and analysis through a speech for a debate on the 'Future Funding of the BBC' and a policy briefing for a Peers contribution to the 'Trade Partnership Committee under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement'. During this time Kirsty has also worked as a Policy Researcher for the Policy Institute at King's College London, where she produced two reports, ‘A Review of the National Policy Landscape’ and 'Supporting Young People Interventions & Impact’.

Since February 2022, Kirsty has been the Research Assistant for the UKRI-JSPS funded project ‘Sustainable Cultural Futures: COVID-19 and Resetting Cultural Policy’, led by Dr Hye-Kyung Lee & Professor Nobuko Kawashima.  The project is a 3-year, UK-Japan scholarly collaboration in cultural policy that will reconsider the pre-pandemic basis of cultural policy in the UK and Japan, investigate policy responses to the pandemic and identify new areas for policy interventions to make the cultural sector more sustainable. Kirsty will support the development of two literature reviews, and the project's social media presence and contribute to survey design and interviews.

Since January 2023, Kirsty has worked as an Administrative Assistant on the MRC-funded Interface project led by Professor Fay Bound Alberti hosted by the Centre for Technology and the Body. The project asks the questions: What is a face? And why does it matter? Exploring everything from surgical interventions, identity and selfhood to the role of technology, robots to deep fakes. 

Kirsty has a track record of academic excellence. In both 2014 and 2015, she was awarded an Academic Excellence Scholarship while studying Fine Art & Art History at Kingston University. In 2018 Kirsty was awarded the Course Directors’ Prize for achieving the best all-round performance across 9 courses offered by the Department of Strategy, Marketing and Innovation at Kingston University. Her PhD (2019 - 2025) is funded by The London Arts and Humanities Partnership (LAHP). In 2021 she was the recipient of a UACES Scholarship (University Association for Contemporary European Studies). This £1500 travel bursary supported PhD fieldwork in Berlin, Germany. In 2022 she has been awarded funding to attend conferences by the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries and King's College London's 'Student Opportunity Fund'. Her most recent success was an award of £10,000 for the project ‘Curate, Manage, Conserve: From Theory to Practice’, from Arts Council England Developing your Creative Practice fund. 

Kirsty also holds a BA (Hons) (First Class) in Fine Art & Art History (Kingston University), and a MA (Hons) (Distinction) Museums and Galleries & the Creative Economy (Kingston University).