Four new Deans of Research and Knowledge Exchange appointed across UAL

Bios for the newly appointed Deans

Maria Chatzichristodoulou (aka Maria X) is Professor of Performance and Technology, and a scholar and cultural practitioner. She has worked as curator, producer, community organiser and performer in the UK, Greece and internationally. As Associate Dean for Research, Business & Innovation at Kingston School of Art, Kingston University (2020-2023), Maria led KSA’s submission to 4 Units of Assessment in REF ‘21 with successful results and contributed to Kingston University’s KEF narrative submissions over the last two iterations. She also co-led on the University’s restructuring of its research and KE environment and the development of 4 new Research & KE Institutes (KERIs). She has led or co-led on KE projects funded by BIG South London Partnership (BIG Design Lab, BIG Creative & Digital Innovation Cluster) and ERDF (ACE IT), and research and innovation projects funded by the AHRC, Innovate UK, Art Council England, Erasmus, Creative Europe and regional funders, as well as consultancy projects (e.g. Lambeth Council, South Korean Ministry of Culture). As a scholar Maria works in the fields of live art, digital arts, socially engaged practice, curation, and creative industries policy/creative economy, publishing work and supervising research students.

Before moving to Kingston University Maria was Director of Enterprise, Head of Department and Director of Research Centre at School of Art & Creative Industries, London South Bank University. Previously, she taught Theatre, Performance and New Media at the University of Hull and Birkbeck University of London; and was Visiting Lecturer at Queen Mary and Goldsmiths University of London. She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media (IJPADM) (Taylor & Francis).

Central Saint Martins

Helen Brooks

Helen joins Central Saint Martins from the University of Kent where she is Professor of Cultural and Creative History in the School of Arts.

Since 2020, Helen has served as Kent’s Director of Research and Innovation for the Division of Arts and Humanities. In this role she won AHRC Impact Acceleration funding and led 8 units of assessment in REF 2021 to achieve some of the best results in the country. Recently she has been working with Northeastern University London on their REF strategy and leading the establishment of their doctoral school.

Helen’s interests are in storytelling and creative engagement with diverse and marginalised heritage and histories, and the ways that this can inform identity, placemaking and regeneration. Recent projects include Beyond the Binary (AHRC-funded) where she worked with public researchers and theatres to explore the history of pantomime through the lenses of gender and sexuality; and Walking with Ghosts (IWM and AHRC funded) where she worked with schools, artists and community groups to produce a site-specific immersive art experience exploring the impact of conflict in Folkestone. Helen has also published widely on both eighteenth-century theatre and gender, and on theatre of and about the First World War. She is a member of the AHRC peer review college and has worked widely with external partners including Ambassador Theatre Group, Imperial War Museums, Passchendaele Memorial Museum Belgium and the National Theatre.

London College of Communication

Amanda Crawley Jackson

Amanda is currently Associate Dean of Knowledge Exchange for LCC. She was appointed Professor of Place and Culture earlier this year, becoming UAL's first Knowledge Exchange professor. Amanda previously worked at The University of Sheffield, as Faculty Director of Knowledge Exchange and Impact (Arts and Humanities).

Amanda has a PhD in French philosophy and literature and her research focuses on place and space in modern and contemporary literature and art from France and Algeria. She is particularly interested in post-traumatic landscapes and in 2020, curated a high-profile exhibition on this theme at the Graves Gallery in Sheffield.

Amanda has led on a number of strategic RKE partnerships in Yorkshire and London. She also secured funding from OfS and Research England for a KE project that created paid work placements for students from underrepresented groups in sectors associated with placemaking.

London College of Fashion