Creative Industries Research Unit: Music, Performance and Media

  1. Research
  2. Creative Industries Research Unit: Music, Performance and Media
  3. Postgraduate Research
  4. Postgraduate research students

Postgraduate research students

Iwan Bala: Custodial Aesthetics. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis. Supervisors: Professor Mark Durden. Funder: University of South Wales

David Barnes: 'Small Stories’ – Photographer and community practice in Wales. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Professor Lisa Lewis

Julie Benson: Subverting the Female Ideal: An Investigation into the Construction of the Female Action Hero in Cross-Platform Narrative. Supervisors: Dr Márta Minier, Dr Deirdre Russell, Dr Jesse Schwenk

Martin Constantine: Acting and Directing Opera: Correlating Training towards Future Collaboration. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr. Supervisors: Dr Márta Minier, Dr Jodie Allinson

Denis Cryer-Lennon: Breathing through the text: The Role of Breathing Work in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Actor Training Shakespeare’s Text. Director of Studies: Dr Michael Carklin. Supervisors: Dr Márta Minier, Dr Jesse Schwenk

Emma Foley: The efficacy of therapeutic storytelling in breaking down barriers: A qualitative study into the experiences of parent carers of children with learning disabilities attending mainstream education (MA by Research). Director of Studies: Dr Jodie Allinson. Supervisors: Dr Emily Underwood-Lee, Dr Michael Carklin.

Alba Gimenez: Cinematic Paradoxes: Representation and Embodied Experience in Harun Farocki’s Late Work. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Eileen Little

Liane Hadley: Performance, Community Heritage and Story: Reconnecting with ourselves and the environment through performance in the light of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis. Supervisor: Dr Márta Minier, Dr Rhiannon Williams

Faye Hannah: Talent Development in Welsh Screen Industries. Director of Studies: Professor Ruth McElroy. Supervisors: Dr Rebecca Williams, Dr Michael Carklin. Funder: University of South Wales

Edward (Ada) Jeffery: Fandom and Play: Auto-Ethnographic research into fan subcultures and the character of play within; cosplay, Live-Action-Role-play and fan culture with practice based research on whether play can be used to exercise political awareness in fan spaces. Director of Studies: Dr Rebecca Williams. Supervisors: Professor Lisa Lewis, Dr Michael Carklin

Sean Tuan John: Uglyism: Towards a new critical framework in the contemporary arts and dance. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis. Supervisor: Dr Jodie Allinson

Lukasz Kubicki: Photography and Durational Relationships to the Landscape. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Dr Eileen Little

Edgar Martins: The Impossible Document: Photography, Absence and Trauma. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Lisa Barnard

James Milne: Hidden in Built Form: Imaging Unconsidered Landmarks. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Eileen Little

Les Monaghan:  The Mute Subject: photographing regulated selves. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Lisa Barnard & Eileen Little

Elis Pari: Prosiect Iechyd Meddwl Ffermwyr Cymru: Cymuned a Pherfformiad (Welsh Farmers’ Mental Health Project: Community and Performance). Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis. Supervisors: Dr Rhiannon Williams, Dr Sêra Moore Williams. Funder: Pantyfedwen Trust.

Ana Catarina Pinho: Transformations of the Real: Photography in Contemporary Art. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Lisa Barnard

Patrick Quinn: Can games be used to tackle the causes of depression and other societal issues in relation to mental health? Director of Studies: Dr Brian Fagence. Supervisors: Corrado Morgana; Dr Thania Acarón

Rebecca Robinson: Trans* Representation in British Experimental Theatre. Director of Studies: Dr Sarah Crews. Supervisors: Dr Emily Underwood-Lee, Professor Lisa Lewis

Beverley Roblin: Staging a revolution: can theatre be an affective form of activism? Director of Studies: Dr Márta Minier. Supervisors: Dr Hilary Ramsden, Dr Michael Carklin 

Ian Rowlands: A Dramatist’s Intent: Performativity, Relationality and Being. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis; Supervisor: Dr Márta Minier

Nicol Ruddock-Davies: Animation adaptation and the effects of the creative process in relation to Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles. Director of Studies: Dr Márta Minier. Supervisor: Dr Brian Fagence

Sama:  Face and Mask: Portraiture and Anonymity
Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisors: Dr Eileen Little; Dr Emily Underwood-Lee

Clémentine Schneidermann:  Contemporary documentary practice and social engagement. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden. Supervisor: Lisa Barnard

Rosaria Sgueglia: Why do we buy Chanel? An analysis of the economic and cultural impact films, videos, TV, newspapers, magazines and material culture and photography have had on the Chanel brand. Director of Studies: Dr Rebecca Williams. Supervisors: Dr James Rendell, Dr Torunn Kjolberg

Leonie Sharrock: Touching Story: tactile process in the creation of animated narratives. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis. Supervisor: Dr Márta Minier

Joseph Sudlow: The Aural Representation of Reality in Animated Documentary Filmmaking. Director of Studies: Dr Brian Fagence. Supervisors: Dr Peter Hodges, Dr Philip Mitchell

Luke Thomas: Culture versus Economy: Popular Music Policy in Wales and Other Small Nations. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr. Supervisors: Dr Rob Smith, Professor Ruth McElroy. Funder: University of South Wales

Eleanor Thorpe: Queer Public Figures in Biopics. Director of Studies: Dr Geraint D’Arcy. Supervisor: Sarah Crews

Elizabeth Weir: Sharing Stories for a Better Future: five decades of building community through storytelling in Northern Ireland. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr. Supervisors: Professor Joseph Sobol; Dr Emily Underwood-Lee

Recently completed Postgraduate Research projects:

  • George Petry:  Philip Jones Griffiths: Vietnam Inc.’s Anti-War photographic scrutiny of America Inc.’s war on Viêt Nam (2021) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden

  • Brian Morrell – How Film and TV Music Communicate (2021) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr – moved from current list. Supervisor: Dr Rob Smith  

  • Abdelwahab Himmat – A History of the Sudanese Communist Party (2021) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Ruth McElroy. Supervisors: Emeritus Prof. Hamish Fyfe, Professor Sharif Gemie

  • Joao Leal: Resisting Narrative: Artistic research, narrativity and the constraints of academia (2021) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden; Supervisor: Lisa Barnard

  • Gareth Bonello: Deialogau Diwylliannol Cymreig a Khasi: Ymchwil Trwy Ymarfer Creadigol (Welsh and Khasi Cultural Dialogues: Research through Creative Practice) (2020) PhD associated with the Centre for Media and Culture in Small Nations, funded by Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the University of South Wales. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis. Supervisors: Professor Paul Carr, Dr Rhiannon Williams.

  • Sarah Pace: Revolutions of the Public Arts Machine: problematising the potential and actual practices of state-sponsored commissioning to generate a critically situated public art practice for social change (2020) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Hilary Ramsden; Supervisor: Professor Hamish Fyfe

  • Andrew Hill: Bards of the Silver Screen: Music and Meaning in Cinema (2020) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisor: Professor Joseph Sobol & Dr Brian Fagence

  • Alfredo Cramerotti: The Hyperimage: a Curatorial Approach to Expanded Photography (2020) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden; Supervisor: Lisa Barnard

  • Jeanette D’Arcy: Conceptions of Feminism and the Literary Canon in Mainstream Theatrical Adaptations of Novels by Women Writers (2019) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Márta Minier; Supervisors: Professor Diana Wallace, Dr Rachel Grainger

  • Chris Inglis: Engaging with Electro Swing: Resurrection, Recontextualisation and Remix (2019) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr. Supervisor: Dr Rob Smith & Dr Geraint D’Arcy

  • Sera Moore Williams: Y Gymraes: Dylanwad Theatr Amgen ar Ysgrifennu Newydd ac Ysgrifennu Newydd ar Theatr Amgen yng Nghymru rhwng 1992 a 2001 (Y Gymraes theatre company: the influence of alternative theatre on new writing and new writing on alternative theatre in Wales between 1992 and 2001 (2019) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis; Supervisors: Professor Alice Entwistle; Sian Summers.

  • Simon Dancey: Ploughing the Sea: Imagined Hegemonies and Trans-National Cultural Policy in Latin America (2019) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Philip Mitchell; Supervisor: Dr Robert Campbell

  • Joanna Vestey: Conditions of Knowledge: Photographic Materiality and the Process of Order (2019) PhD. Director of Studies: Prof Mark Durden; Supervisor: Lisa Barnard

  • Chua Lian Choon: Diploma in Entertainment Arts – A Bourdieusian Commentary on Its Field, Habitus and Social Capital in Malaysia (2019) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisor: Dr Hilary Ramsden

  • Sabina Macchiavelli:  Metamorphosis of a Genre: British and Italian Sound Docudrama in Context and Contemporary Production (2019) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Márta Minier; Supervisor: Dr Geraint D’Arcy

  • Michael Chronopoulos: An evaluation of the Autoethnographic representations of Ellinikotita (Greekness) within the feature-length documentary entitled, I.M (2019) MPhil. Director of Studies: Prof Florence Ayisi; Supervisor: Dr Deirdre Russell

  • Jessica Hopkins: Investigating the role of arts-based practice in fostering well-being and the regeneration of communities in the UK (2019) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Dr Hilary Ramsden; Supervisors: Dr Michael Carklin & Ms Carol Hiles

  • Geoff Moore: Alive in Time: The Work of Moving Being 1974-1988 (2018) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Stephen Lacey; Supervisor: Professor Richard Hand

  • Alex Brady: How is local celebrity created and managed in UK nations and regions? (2018) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Rebecca Williams; Supervisors: Dr Lesley Harbidge; Professor Ruth McElroy

  • Sarah Crews: Wrestling with the Text: Production Practices in Staging Howard Barker (2018) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Andy Smith; Supervisor: Professor Richard Hand

  • Edward Casey: Producing a First Feature: Exploring the lived experiences of emerging UK film producers (2018) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Andy Smith; Supervisor: Prof Chris Smith

  • Tom Sankey: Selfish Defence: the exploration of an original personal support practice designed to assist people working within the entertainment industry (2018) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Dr Hilary Ramsden; Supervisor: Dr Michael Carklin

  • Charlie Andrews: The Force Reawakens: ‘The transmedia sub-universe’ of internally produced and externally licensed storytelling in the Disney era of Star Wars (2019) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Dr Rebecca Williams; Supervisor: Dr Márta Minier

  • Ffion Rees: Dadansoddiad o hanes a datblygiad y gyfres Ffermio dros yr ugain mlynedd ddiwethaf (2018) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis; Supervisor: Heledd Wyn Hardy

  • Katherine Edwardes: The Rise of the Cybercelebrity: Understanding celebrity production and the construction of authenticity on YouTube using YouTube Gamer Mini Ladd (2018) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Dr Rebecca Williams; Supervisor: Corrado Morgana

  • Martina Cleary: The Photograph as a Site of Mnemonic Return (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden; Supervisor: Dr Helen Sear

  • René Mamo: The Record Producer in Maltese Music: A Critical Reflection (2017) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisor: Dr Rob Smith

  • Daniel Blaufuks: W. G. Sebald and Georges Perec: Photography, Film, Memory and the Holocaust (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden, supervisor Russell Roberts

  • David Langdon: Games that play us: the persistence of the literary Gothic in linear narrative within the interactive environment (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Richard Hand; Supervisor: Professor Diana Wallace 

  • Paul Trynka: “Before we create the art, we must create the artist”: the persona in the creation of popular music (2017) PhD by Portfolio. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisors: Dr Rob Smith; Dr Peter Jachimiak

  • Nina Jones: Beyond the M25: BBC Television Drama in Wales and Scotland 2003-2013 (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Ruth McElroy; Supervisors: Dr Rebecca Williams; Professor Steve Blandford

  • Sian Powell: Adlewyrchu Datganoli: Y berthynas rhwng newyddiadurwyr a’r pleidiau gwleidyddol yng Nghymru ddatganoledig a’u dylanwad ar sylw rhaglenni newyddion y BBC yn ystod Etholiad cyffredinol ac Etholiad y Cynulliad 2011 (2017) PhD (Coleg Cenedlaethol Cymru-funded Studentship associated with the Centre for the Study of Media and Culture in Small Nations); Director of Studies: Professor Ruth McElroy; Supervisor: Professor Lisa Lewis

  • Chanan Hanspal: Zappa and the Orchestra Question: Dissonant Clatter or Well-Crafted Design? (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisor: Dr Rob Smith

  • Vanessa Dodd, What it is like . . . ? An investigation into the theatre of the human mind (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Márta Minier; Supervisor: Dr Michael Carklin

  • Caroline Parsons: Hybrid Cinema: From Cinematography to Animatography (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Márta Minier; Dr Geraint D’Arcy

  • Peter Hodges: Sound and Vision: towards a definition of the dialogical interactions between image and sound in animated film (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Stephen Lacey; Supervisor Dr Geraint D’Arcy

  • Amy Genders: The Temple of the Arts?: The Evolution of BBC Arts Broadcasting in the Digital Media Landscape (2017) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Ruth McElroy; Supervisor: Dr Lesley Harbidge

  • Zachary Finley: Effective Management Networks in the Games Development Industry (2017) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Corrado Morgana; Supervisor: Prof Barry Atkins

  • Laura Jones: The treasured memories of childhood and television: intergenerational memory, the home and children’s remake television (2017) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Professor Ruth McElroy; Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Williams

  • Ameneh Mahmoodian: A comparison between how women have been represented in photographs taken in Iran and England (2016) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Mark Durden; Supervisor: Dr Helen Sear

  • Brian Fagence: Scriptwriting and the Transformation of Realities: a critical discussion of story creation, transformation and transmedia storytelling in animation, comics and computer games (2016) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Richard Hand; Supervisor: Professor Steve Blandford

  • Rhiannon Williams: Y Capel Cymraeg: Cymdogaeth a Pherfformiad (2016) PhD funded by the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis; Supervisor: Professor Hamish Fyfe; Dr Sera Moore Williams

  • Emily Underwood-Lee: The Body Exposed: strategies for confronting objectification in women’s autobiographical performance (2016) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Lisa Lewis; Supervisor: Dr Márta Minier

  • Steve Johnson: New Voices with a Welsh accent: How does the 'conversation' between the community radio stations of Wales and their communities engender sustainable social gain outcomes? (2016) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Dr Philip Mitchell; Supervisor: Dr Catriona Noonan

  • David Barrett: Performing Shakespeare in the Original Pronunciation (2015) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Richard Hand; Supervisor: Dr Rob Dean

  • Louise Atkins: A Common Approach? Occupational Health and Wellbeing in the UK Conservatoire Sector (2015) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisors: Mr John Cranmer (RWMCD); Dr Rachel Iredale

  • Madelon Hoedt: Acting Out: The Pleasures of Performances Horror (2015) PhD.Director of Studies: Professor Richard Hand; Supervisor: Professor Diana Wallace

  • Will Ashton: A game of musical layers: and investigation into the use of a vertical layering soundtrack as an integral part of the information system of a video game (2015) MPhil. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisor: Dr Rob Smith

  • Emyr Davies: Wales, UFOs and the Public’s Perceptions of Alien Phenomena: RE-visiting the Dyfed Triangle of 1977 (2015) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Dr Peter Jachimiak; Supervisor: Dr Rebecca Williams

  • Michael Walker: Adapting the Gothic Novella: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from page to stage (2015) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Professor Richard Hand; Supervisor: Dr Márta Minier.

  • Ben Lamb: Investing a Studio with Meaning: The Construction of Fictional Space in British Television Drama and the Police Series of 1955-82 (2014) PhD. Director of Studies: Professor Stephen Lacey; Supervisors: Professor Ruth McElroy; Dr Rebecca Williams

  • Michael Picardie: Towards a philosophy of theatre inspired by Aristotle’s Poetics and post-structural aesthetics in relation to three South African plays (2014) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Michael Carklin; Supervisor: Professor Stephen Lacey

  • Rob Campbell: Hamsworth’s Daily Timesaver, 1901: a transatlantic case study in the tabloidization of reader time (2014) PhD. Director of Studies: Dr Philip Mitchell; Supervisor: Dr Gill Allard

  • Jonathan Goode: Contemporary Christian Worship Music: A Pilot Study (2014) MA by Research. Director of Studies: Professor Paul Carr; Supervisor: Dr Rob Smith; Professor Steve Blandford