British Library partners with Universities on Digital Comics PhD projects

By John Freeman on March 26, 2019

The British Library is collaborating with university partners to award PhD funding for four new doctoral research projects, starting in October 2019, two on digital comics.

As we previously reported, the projects will be co-supervised by the British Library, offering unique opportunities for bespoke research training and professional development.

Two of those are on UK digital comics projects, the first titles “UK Digital Comics information and publishing practices: from creation to consumption”, in partnership with City, University of London.

The University Supervisors are Dr Ernesto Priego (Lecturer, Centre for Human Computer-Interaction Design) and Dr Stephann Makri (Senior Lecturer in Human-Computer Interaction) and the British Library Supervisors are Ian Cooke (Head of Contemporary British Publications) and Stella Wisdom (Digital curator)

The application deadline is 31st May 2019 and you can find full studentship details and how to apply here (PDF).

Ian Cooke, Head of the British Library’s Contemporary British Publications

The second project is “Collecting UK Digital Comics: Society, Culture and Technology” in partnership with the University of the Arts, with University Supervisors Professor Roger Sabin (Professor of Popular Culture, Central St Martins) and Dr Ian Hague (Lecturer in Contextual and Theoretical Studies, London College of Communication). The British Library Supervisors are Stella Wisdom and Ian Cooke.

The application deadline is also 31st May 2019 and full studentship details and how to apply are here(PDF).

• There’s more on the British Library AHRC 2019 projects here on the British Library web site

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.