Museum and Heritage Research at the University of Westminster is wide-ranging, with a strong emphasis on the combination of theory and professional practice.
Our rigorous, ambitious and outward-looking doctoral training programme and research environment work closely with local, national and international heritage and cultural organisations. Our approach brings the history of the culture sector into dialogue with contemporary practice, supporting students to engage with the current issues and challenges facing museums and heritage today. The unique research of our doctoral cohort will shape the key issues impacting the future of the sector.
We provide expert supervision across a wide range of topics within the broad umbrella of museum and heritage studies, including but not limited to:
- Audience research and community engagement
- Curating, presenting and managing collections
- Decolonial methods and approaches
- Deep storage
- Digital humanities
- Environmental sustainability
- Hidden histories
- Inclusion and accessibility with particular focus on LGBT+ and SEND
- Memory and heritage
- Participatory arts and research practice
- Photographic heritage
- Public history
- Tangible and intangible heritage
We welcome applications for projects that might be conducted in part as ‘practice’ or through professional projects and collaborations with organisations, as well as for theory-based projects.
Current and recent PhD projects
Pride, Passengers and Personnel: Collecting LGBTQ+ Experiences in and on London’s Transport in the 1970s and 1980s (AHRC Techne CDA with London Transport Museum)
The Home Darkroom and the Freedom of Photographic Production in Britain, 1950s-present (AHRC CDP with the Museum of the Home)
Photography by Train: New Leisure Experiences of Heritage in Britain, 1880s-1930s (AHRC Teche CDA with the National Railway Museum and the National Science and Media Museum)
Examining the Impact of Multisensory Language on Perception and Experience: How can Botanic, Horticultural or Historic Gardens Use Audio Description To Enhance Access for All Visitors? (AHRC Techne with Chelsea Physic Garden and Edinburgh Botanic Garden)
Empire and Artefacts: The "Lost' Museum of the Royal United Services Institute, 1830-1962 (AHRC Techne)
Interpretation and Visitors in Two Islamic Art Exhibitions: The New Galleries for the Art of the Arab Lands at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) and Pearls on a String: Artists, Poets, and Patrons at the Walters Art Museum (Baltimore, Maryland)
The Small Craft Museum's Contribution to Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Clockmakers’ Museum, The Fan Museum, The Lace Guild Museum, The Quilt Museum and Gallery, and The Stained Glass Museum