Cultural Histories @ Kingston

Cultural Histories @ Kingston (CHK) is an interdisciplinary research group based in Kingston School of Art. Centred around the concept of the 'cultural text', the group includes scholars from the fields of literature, film, media, history, music, dance, performance, journalism and publishing, who are brought together by a shared interest in the way in which narratives - written, visual, and performative - shape and have shaped individual and communal experience, material culture, and everyday life.

The group is concerned both by how these diverse narratives describe cultural identities, and the contribution they make to how such identities are formed, engaging both with the role of the cultural text and the conditions of its production. Extending from the past to present and future cultures, the group researches cultural practices from early modern culture to the present. A particular feature is how social justice, and gendered, racial, religious, ethnic and sexual identities are both produced through, and reflective of, texts as cultural forms.

Mission and objectives

CHK is committed to enriching the University's research culture by bridging disciplines across subject areas, exploring collaborations, and promoting interdisciplinary research, publications and events.

CHK aims to:

Support and facilitate the production of both disciplinary and interdisciplinary research of national and international significance, and make connections between publications produced by staff working under the banner of cultural histories
Enrich the provision of research-led disciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching in the field of cultural history, drawing upon the strengths and shared concerns of staff
Provide a forum in which staff and students, in connection with wider research networks, scholars from other institutions, and those with relevant public and professional interests, can exchange knowledge relating to the production of cultural histories
Offer a dynamic and supportive environment for postgraduate students, both at MA and doctoral levels, and expand PGR recruitment through defined interdisciplinary courses
Promote interest both within and outside Kingston in the cultural text through the sponsorship and co-sponsorship of seminar series, conferences, and public events
Provide a home for our archival holdings and work to utilise these collections more effectively in research and teaching