PhD Placement

I’ve been quiet in producing work over the past twelve months as I have been concentrating on a PhD application, which was (thankfully) successful. I enrol in September on the PhD in Art History and Visual Studies, at Manchester University. This has been quite a long journey, having spoken to several institutions and prospective supervisors, the ideas and concepts have shifted the focus of the research, but the subject matter has remained the same. The question is “Das Auto, the People’s Car: DIY heritage car restoration and wellbeing”; this combines my almost anorak obsession with old Volkswagens and my love of photography. The research aims to investigate the following: 

• To what extent does DIY heritage restoration of cars contribute to restorers’ personal and community well-being?
• How do communities of practice support and impact on the aims, practices and outcomes of DIY heritage restoration?
• How does community engagement in relation to skills and craft support DIY heritage restoration?