Rosie Spooner
Lecturer, Design History and Theory
Design History & Theory
Glasgow School of Art
Research Interests
History of Museums and Exhibitions, Scottish Art, Design and Architectural History, Colonial/Postcolonial Studies, Canadian and Indigenous Visual and Material Culture, History of Cities and Urban Cultures, Contemporary Curatorial Practice and Art/Design Criticism
Research Profile
Rosie Spooner lectures in Design History and Theory at the Glasgow School of Art. She is also a recurring Guest Lecturer in the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow, and has previously held teaching positions at OCAD University in Toronto (formerly the Ontario College of Art & Design).
Rosie's field of research concerns the visual and material culture of the British Empire from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Specifically, it sits at the juncture of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art, design and architectural history; museum and exhibition studies; postcolonial theory; and Scottish social and cultural history. Her doctoral thesis for example used a series of exhibitions held in Glasgow between the 1880s and 1930s as case studies for examining how thmore...
Rosie Spooner lectures in Design History and Theory at the Glasgow School of Art. She is also a recurring Guest Lecturer in the School of Culture and Creative Arts at the University of Glasgow, and has previously held teaching positions at OCAD University in Toronto (formerly the Ontario College of Art & Design).
Rosie's field of research concerns the visual and material culture of the British Empire from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Specifically, it sits at the juncture of nineteenth- and twentieth-century art, design and architectural history; museum and exhibition studies; postcolonial theory; and Scottish social and cultural history. Her doctoral thesis for example used a series of exhibitions held in Glasgow between the 1880s and 1930s as case studies for examining how these events facilitated the display of objects, movement of people and dissemination of ideas across the British Empire. Inter-disciplinary in nature, her research critically examines how visions and imaginings of nationhood were expressed through an exhibition’s planning, architecture and displays.
Themes of movement, exchange and identity underpin Rosie's broader research interests, which encompass the history of museums, art exhibitions and biennials; Scottish art, design and architecture (19C to present); Canadian and Indigenous visual and material culture (18C to present); design and the built environment; food studies; and contemporary curatorial practice and art/design criticism. Furthermore, her research record demonstrates engagement with critical approaches from postcolonial theory and gender studies, and methodologies from material culture studies and oral history.
Alongside this academic background, Rosie's professional experience centres on working in the arts and cultural heritage. She has held positions in museums (MShed, Bristol; The Hunterian, Glasgow), art galleries (InterAccess Media Arts Centre, Toronto; CCA, Glasgow), archival institutions (Dance Collection Danse, Toronto), and visual arts festivals (Toronto International Film Festival; Luminato Festival of Arts & Creativity, Toronto).
Qualifications
PhD, History of Art/Information Studies, University of Glasgow, UK (2013-2016).
Title of thesis: “Close Encounters: International Exhibitions and the Material Culture of the British Empire, 1880-1940.”
Funding: AHRC three-year Doctoral Scholarship
Supervisors: Dr Sabine Wieber (History of Art) and Dr Ian G. Anderson (Information Studies).
Examiners: Professor Clare Willsdon, History of Art, University of Glasgow (internal), and Professor Christopher Whitehead, School of Arts and Cultures, Newcastle University (external).
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MA, Colonial/Postcolonial Studies, University of Bristol (2008-2009)
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MA (Hons), History, University of Glasgow (2002-2006)
