LAHP Team
Professor Johanna Malt
Director – Professor of French Literature and Visual Culture – King’s College London
Professor Johanna Malt
Director – Professor of French Literature and Visual Culture – King’s College London
Johanna Malt is Professor of French Literature and Visual Culture at King’s College London and Liaison Editor of Paragraph: a Journal of Modern Critical Theory. Her research interests are on 20th and 21st century literature, visual art and theory. She is author of Obscure objects of desire: surrealism, fetishism and politics (Oxford University Press, 2004) and is currently writing a book on casts, imprints and traces in modern and contemporary art.
As Director of LAHP, Johanna Malt is responsible for the strategic leadership, development and delivery of LAHP.
Department of French, King’s College London, 22 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6NR
EmailProf. Tony Fisher
Deputy Director/Head of Training and Cohort Development
Prof. Tony Fisher
Deputy Director/Head of Training and Cohort Development
Associate Director of Research
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Tony Fisher is the Associate Director of Research at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and Reader in Theatre and Philosophy. His research has an interdisciplinary focus, drawing on aesthetics, social history, political theory, and his background in Continental philosophy. He has a particular interest in democratic theory and socially-engaged arts practices. His books include Theatre and Governance in Britain, 1500-1900: Democracy, Disorder and the State (CUP, 2017) and Foucault’s Theatres (MUP, co-edited with Kélina Gotman). He has extensive experience of PhD training, running Central’s PGR programme for over a decade, as a research mentor working with ECRs, and as a PhD supervisor, with 10 successful completions to-date.
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Eton Avenue, London, NW3 3HY, UK
EmailDr Marquard Smith
Deputy Director for Collaborations and Partnerships
Dr Marquard Smith
Deputy Director for Collaborations and Partnerships
Marq is Programme Leader of the MA Museums & Galleries in Education at UCL Institute of Education, Professor of Artistic Research at Vilnius Academy of Arts, and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Visual Culture. He loves working with cultural institutions such as Freud Museum, ICA, Tate, and Whitechapel on devising and delivering curatorial, programming, and publishing initiatives. He’s had recent roles as Board Member of Arts Catalyst and Live Art Development Agency, and as an Advisory Group Member, Inclusive Practice, at Wellcome Collection.
There are two often interwoven strands to Marq’s research, publishing, and curating activities (1) arts education, artistic research, practice-based research, and archives, and (2) the future of the human in the visual, material, and immaterial culture of capitalist modernity. Recent publications (often collaboratively conceived and realised, and all freely available) include: ‘The JVC Palestine Portfolio’ (2021), Pause. Fervour: Reflections on a Pandemic (2021), Decolonizing: The Curriculum, the Museum, and the Mind (2020), Research: Practitioner | Curator | Educator (2020). Recent curatorial projects include: ‘Do The Right Thing’ (Titanikas, Vilnius), ‘Solitary Pleasures’ (Freud Museum, London), the Nida Doctoral School (Research Pavilion, Venice Biennale), ‘How to Construct a Time Machine’ (MK Gallery), ‘Blood & Bones: Living with Cancer’ (UCLH), ‘The Global Archive’, and ‘How We Became Metadata’.
As an academic manager, Marq’s roles have included Head of the School of Art and Design History, Kingston University, Research Leader and Head of Doctoral Studies in the School of Humanities at Royal College of Art, and Founding Director of the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture at University of Westminster.
As Deputy Director (Collaborations and Partnerships), Marq is responsible for leading on the Collaborative Doctoral Awards Competition and the Placement Scheme, whilst working across LAHP to foster strong relationships with non-HEI partners.
EmailMispa Same Essaka
LAHP Manager
Mispa Same Essaka
LAHP Manager
Mispa Same Essaka manages all aspects of the Doctoral Training Partnership, from preparation of bids for additional funding through to the detailed day-to-day management of the LAHP partnership and its AHRC funding. Mispa is responsible for developing strategic and day-to-day working relationships across LAHP’s academic partners, as well as with key staff in the Research Councils, cultural and business partners, and other funders. Mispa manages all financial aspects of the partnership.
London Arts & Humanities Partnership Office
Room 204, Second Floor
School of Advanced Study
Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HU
Lewis Knapp
LAHP Support Officer
Lewis Knapp
LAHP Support Officer
Lewis coordinates the administration of:
- The LAHP Open studentship competition
- The additional funds to support research training
- The research training programme
- The LAHP student records
London Arts & Humanities Partnership Office
Room 204, Second Floor
School of Advanced Study
Senate House
Malet Street
London WC1E 7HU