New appointment: Dr Benjamin Anderson

The School of Art History and Cultural Policy is pleased to share news of the appointment of (opens in a new window)Dr Benjamin Anderson as Assistant Professor and Ad Astra Fellow in Creative and Cultural Industries, starting in September 2024. Dr Anderson comes to us from the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) where his research explores the cultures and conditions of craft, platform, and cultural industries. His work interrogates the trend toward localised, artisanal production in the Global North and its connection to conditions of precarity and new commerce platforms like Etsy. His extensive teaching portfolio in Communication and Labour Studies is built upon a critical interrogation of cultural production and its relationship to the adoption of new workplace and consumer technologies.

His experience as a communication and labour researcher and educator positions him to contribute to the UCD strategic research goals to transform through digital technology and empower humanity.  Dr Anderson will be centrally involved in delivering the (opens in a new window)BA Humanities in Creative and Cultural Industries, and contributing to the MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management, joining the staff at UCD who are part of the (opens in a new window)Creative Futures Academy project (a joint initiative of UCD, IADT and NCAD).

As part of the Ad Astra Fellowship scheme, a fully-funded PhD studentship, to be supervised by Dr Anderson, will be advertised in late 2024.

Dr Anderson said, "I am excited to join UCD's School of Art History and Cultural Policy, and I very much look forward to forging new relationships and collaborations with staff and students alike. Additionally, as a researcher concerned with the conditions facing creative and cultural workers, I am delighted at the prospect of working with students in planning dignified and edifying careers, while at the same time learning from and organising alongside current workers in these industries."

Head of School Dr Philip Cottrell said, “Dr Anderson’s expertise in critical studies of craft and cultural industries makes him a perfect fit for Ireland, which has a long tradition and vibrant contemporary range of activity in these fields. His interests in equitable labour, community organising, and collaborations between academia and industry are especially welcome, as an advocate for organisational, industrial, and social change. Dr Anderson is ideally placed to help lead UCD’s growing research and teaching programmes in the Creative and Cultural Industries, with past experience teaching classes on media and popular culture; labour and political economy; communication and social change; and craft capitalism.”