I greatly enjoy working at KU. In February 2016 I was appointed Professor of Design History with a research brief to work within MIRC and the school, and initially also to help forge links between design and film. Following three symposia co-hosted by MIRC and Parsons/The New School, New York (two at Kingston; one in USA) the latter project led to a co-edited scholarly anthology (Screen Interiors, 2021) and Screen and Stage (special issue of Interiors: Design. Architecture. Culture, 2019), to which KU staff contributed. Since graduating with a degree in history, and completing an interdisciplinary doctorate across history and design history, I have researched and written widely on design (including interiors and furniture), gender and film. Before moving to Kingston, I was a Professor at the Bard Graduate Center: Design History, Decorative Arts, Material Culture in New York and prior to that Professor pf Design History and Cultural Studies at De Montfort University, Leicester.
Professor: Design History (0.3)
My main research interests are in the fields of design, film and gender. I am currently working on a book, Charles and Ray Eames and Hollywood: Design, Film and Friendships, that includes discussion of Eames films as well as Hollywood films to which they contributed in a variety of ways, as well as the ways in which their friendships with people in the US film industry brought commissions outside the film industry. Unfortunately, an exhibition I was curating on this topic scheduled for 2021 in New York was cancelled. I am preparing a book chapter on the Eames House, its interiors and its home studio for a book on models for domestic living, and am currently part of a MIRC group on a major grant application for a broad study of interiors and well being from c. 2010 to 2020/21. My KU colleague Stephen Knott and I are proposing the first critical study of home studios used for crafts (from the dining table or garage to specified spaces for making) in relation to recreation, rehabilitation, wellbeing, gender, and use. I am also working on a scholarly journal article about the biography of the Goddard House, Leicester (1954-55 - to the present). Designed by architect, Brenda Walker, who trained at Kingston School of Architecture in the 1940s before working for the Cubitt firm and Fello Atkinson, who trained at the Architectural Association (AA). Besides the biography of the building, interiors, furnishings and garden, the article will also discuss the various links between Kingston's School of Architecture, part-time KU staff who were AA trained and the Cubitt firm.
Ball, Vicky, Kirkham, Pat and Porter, Laraine (2020) Structures of feeling : contemporary research in women's film and broadcasting history. Women's History Review, 29(5), pp. 759-765. ISSN (print) 0961-2025
Kirkham, Pat and Lichtman, Sarah A. (2019) Introduction. Interiors, 10(1-2), pp. 1-6. ISSN (print) 2041-9112
Kirkham, Pat (2019) Living in a modern way in 'The Moon is blue' (1953, Otto Preminger) : mid-century modern architecture, interiors, and furniture. Interiors : Design/Architecture/Culture, 10(1-2), pp. 103-122. ISSN (print) 2041-9112
Kirkham, Pat (2009) Vertigo (title sequence), Alfred Hitchcock (1958). Design and culture, 1(2), pp. 218-222. ISSN (print) 1754-7075
Kirkham, Pat (1998) Humanizing modernism: the crafts, 'functioning decoration' and the Eamses. Journal of Design History, 11(1), pp. 15-29. ISSN (print) 0952-4649
Kirkham, Pat (1995) Dress, dance, dreams and desire: fashion and fantasy in Dance Hall. Journal of design history, 8(3), pp. 195-214. ISSN (print) 0952-4649
Kirkham, Pat (1990) Introducing Ray Eames (1912-1988). Furniture history, 26, pp. 132-141. ISSN (print) 0016-3058
Kirkham, Pat (1987) Design reform in Austria and Germany c. 1900-1914: the 'Avant Garde' and wicker furniture. The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850 - the present, 11, pp. 5-9. ISSN (print) 0260-9568
Kirkham, Pat (1978) Recollection of furniture makers: oral history, labour history and furniture studies. Furniture history, 14, pp. 23-30. ISSN (print) 0016-3058
Sparke, Penelope , Kirkham, Patricia , Scholze, Jana , Knott, Stephen and Ioannidou, Ersi, eds. (2023) Interiors in the era of Covid-19 : interior design between the public and private realms. London, U.K. : Bloomsbury. 312p. ISBN 9781350294219 (In Press)
Kirkham, Pat (2016) 20 iconic film posters by Saul Bass. London, U.K. : Laurence King Publishing. 44p. ISBN 9781856699891
Kirkham, Patricia, ed. (2013) Eva Zeisel: life, design and beauty. San Francisco, U.S.A. : Chronicle Books. 255p. ISBN 9781452108520
Kirkham, Patricia and Weber, Susan, eds. (2013) History of design: decorative arts and material culture, 1400-2000. London, U.K. : Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History and Material Culture: Yale University Press. 698p. ISBN 9780300196146
Bass, Jennifer and Kirkham, Patricia (2011) Saul Bass: a life in film & design. Laurence King Publishing. 423p. ISBN 9781856697521
Kirkham, Pat, ed. (2000) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000: diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. 462p. ISBN 0300093314
Kirkham, Pat, ed. (1996) The gendered object. Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press. 226p. ISBN 0719044758
Kirkham, Pat (1995) Charles and Ray Eames: designers of the twentieth century. Cambridge, USA : MIT Press. 486p. ISBN 9780262111997
Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet, eds. (1995) Me Jane: masculinity, movies and women. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. 296p. ISBN 9780853158028
Kirkham, Pat and Thoms, David, eds. (1995) War culture: social change and changing experience in World War Two Britain. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. 253p. ISBN 9780853158240
Attfield, Judy and Kirkham, Pat, eds. (1995) A view from the interior: women & design. 2nd ed. London, U.K. : The Women's Press Ltd. 246p. ISBN 9780704344518
Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet, eds. (1993) You Tarzan: masculinity, movies and men. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. 221p. ISBN 9780853157786
Kirkham, Pat (1986) Harry Peach: Dryad and the DIA. London, U.K. : The Design Council. 129p. ISBN 9780850721775
Hayward, Helena and Kirkham, Pat (1980) William and John Linnell: eighteenth century London furniture makers. London, U.K. : Cassell Ltd. 170p. ISBN 9780289709221
Kirkham, Pat (2015) "At home" with the Eameses: performance, hosting and hospitality. In: Ince, Catharine and Johnson, Lotte, (eds.) The world of Charles and Ray Eames. London, U.K. : Thames & Hudson Ltd. pp. 112-128. ISBN 9780500518304
Kirkham, Pat (2015) Ray Kaiser Eames. In: McLeod, Mary and Rosner, Victoria, (eds.) Pioneering women of American Architecture. Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation.
Kirkham, Pat (2013) Eva Zeisel: design legend 1906-2011. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Eva Zeisel: life, design and beauty. San Francisco, California : Chronicle Books LLC. pp. 9-44. ISBN 9781452108520
Kirkham, Patricia, Lara-Betancourt, Patricia, Larsen, Christian. A and Perez, Jorge F. Rivas (2013) Latin America 1830-1900. In: Kirkham, Pat and Weber, Susan, (eds.) History of design: decorative arts and material culture, 1400-2000. New York, U.S.A., New Haven U.S.A. and London, U.K. : Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture: Yale University Press. pp. 456-463. ISBN 9780300196146
Kirkham, Pat (2011) At home with California modern, 1945-65. In: Kaplan, Wendy, (ed.) Living in a modern way: Californian design 1930-1965. Los Angeles, U.S. : Los Angeles County Museum of Art. pp. 147-177. ISBN 9780262016070
Kirkham, Pat and Perkins, Scott (2009) Furniture, patterns and perfection: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's interiors. In: UNSPECIFIED, (ed.) The Guggenheim: Frank Lloyd Wright and the making of the modern museum. New York, U.S.A. : Guggenheim Museum Publications. pp. 111-118. ISBN 9780892073856
Kirkham, Patricia (2009) New environments for modern living: 'At home with the Eameses'. In: Sparke, Penny , Massey, Anne , Keeble, Trevor and Martin, Brenda, (eds.) Designing the modern interior : from the Victorians to today. Oxford, U.K. : Berg. pp. 171-182. ISBN 9781847882882
Kirkham, Pat (2009) Saul Bass: a life in design and film; Saul and Elaine Bass: a collaboration in film and life. In: Aynsley, Jeremy and Atkinson, Harriet, (eds.) The Banham Lectures: essays on designing the future. Oxford, U.K. : Berg. pp. 143-155. ISBN 9781847883025
Kirkham, Pat (2005) Keeping up home front morale: "beauty and duty" in wartime Britain. In: Atkins, Jacqueline M., (ed.) Wearing propaganda: textiles on the home front in Japan, Britain, and the United States, 1931-1945. New Haven, Conn., USA; London, UK : Yale University Press. pp. 205-227. ISBN 0300109245
Kirkham, Pat (2003) William Morris: a life in design. In: Waggoner, Diane, (ed.) 'The beauty of life': William Morris and the art of design. London, UK : Thames & Hudson. pp. 20-31. ISBN 0500284342
Kirkham, Pat (2003) The firm: Morris & Company. In: Waggoner, Diane, (ed.) 'The beauty of life': William Morris and the art of design. London, UK : Thames & Hudson. pp. 32-63. ISBN 0500284342
Kirkham, Pat and Landis, Deborah Nadoolman (2000) Designing Hollywood: women costume and production designers. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000: diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. pp. 247-267. ISBN 0300093314
Kirkham, Pat (2000) Preface. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000; diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. pp. 14-23. ISBN 0300093314
Kirkham, Pat and Stallworth, Shauna (2000) "Three strikes against me": African American women designers. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000; diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. pp. 123-143. ISBN 0300093314
Kirkham, Pat and Walker, Lynne (2000) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000: diversity and difference. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000: diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. pp. 49-83. ISBN 0300093314
Greenbaum, Toni and Kirkham, Pat (2000) Women jewelry designers. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000: diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. pp. 201-221. ISBN 0300093314
Kirkham, Pat and Sparke, Penny (2000) "A woman's place..."?: women interior designers 1900-1950. In: Kirkham, Pat, (ed.) Women designers in the USA 1900-2000; diversity and difference. New Haven, USA : Yale University Press. pp. 305-316. ISBN 0300093314
Kirkham, Pat (1999) Fashion, femininity and 'frivolous' consumption in World-War-Two Britain. In: Attfield, Judy, (ed.) Utility reassessed: the role of ethics in the practice of design. Manchester, UK : Manchester University Press. pp. 143-156. (Studies in design and material culture) ISBN 0719052777
Kirkham, Pat and Warren, Sarah (1999) Four little women: three films and a novel. In: Cartmell, Deborah and Whelehan, Imelda, (eds.) Adaptations: from text to screen, screen to text. Oxford, U.K. : Routledge. pp. 81-97. ISBN 0415167388
Kirkham, Pat and Skeggs, Beverley (1998) Absolutely fabulous: absolutely feminist? In: Geraghty, Christine and Lusted, David, (eds.) The television studies book. London, UK : Arnold. pp. 287-298. ISBN 034066231X
Kirkham, Pat (1996) Fashioning the feminine: dress, appearance and femininity in wartime Britain. In: Gledhill, Christine and Swanson, Gillian, (eds.) Nationalising femininity: culture, sexuality and British cinema in the Second World War. Manchester, U.K. : Manchester University Press. pp. 152-174. ISBN 0719042593
Partington, Angela (1996) Perfume: pleasure, packaging, and postmodernity. In: Kirkham, Patricia, (ed.) The gendered object. Manchester, U.K. : Manchester University Press. pp. 204-218. ISBN 0919044758
Kirkham, Pat (1995) Beauty and duty: keeping up the (home) front. In: Kirkham, Pat and Thoms, David, (eds.) War culture: social change and changing experience in World War Two. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. pp. 13-28. ISBN 085315824X
Kirkham, Pat (1995) "If you have no sons": furniture-making in Britain. In: Attfield, Judy and Kirkham, Pat, (eds.) A view from the interior: women & design. 2nd ed. London, U.K. : The Women's Press Ltd. pp. 109-130. ISBN 9780704344518
Kirkham, Pat (1995) Loving men: Frank Borzage, Charles Farrell and reconstruction of masculinity in 1920's Hollywood cinema. In: Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet, (eds.) Me Jane: masculinity, movies and women. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. pp. 94-112. ISBN 9780853158028
Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet (1995) Me Jane. In: Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet, (eds.) Me Jane: masculinity, movies and women. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. pp. 11-35. ISBN 9780853158028
Kirkham, Pat (1995) Women and the inter-war handicrafts revival. In: Attfield, Judy and Kirkham, Pat, (eds.) A view from the interior: women & design. 2nd ed. London, U.K. : The Women's Press Ltd. pp. 174-183. ISBN 9780704344518
Partington, Angela (1995) The designer housewife in the 1950s. In: Attfield, Judy and Kirkham, Patricia, (eds.) A view from the interior: women and design. London, U.K. : The Women's Press. pp. 206-214. ISBN 0704344513
Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet (1993) You Tarzan. In: Kirkham, Pat and Thumim, Janet, (eds.) You Tarzan: masculinity, movies and men. London, U.K. : Lawrence & Wishart Limited. pp. 11-26. ISBN 9780853157786
Kirkham, Pat (1992) Furniture history. In: Conway, Hazel, (ed.) Design history: a student's handbook. London, U.K. : Routledge. pp. 58-85. ISBN 0415084733
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