3 March 2021

The Design History Society would like to congratulate the winners of the Research Publication Grant, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Strategic Research Grant, Student Research Access Award and the Virtual Event Award (student). A total of £3930 has been awarded in this round, divided amongst several applications deemed of high merit at the discretion of a judging panel drawn from the DHS Executive Committee.

The EDI Strategic Research Grant was founded in 2012 to encourage design history research in geographies beyond the west and post-colonial perspectives. One application was received and awarded funds:

  • Paper presentation at DOCOMOMO2020+1 in Tokyo Japan: 'Modernist heritage in danger today. The case of the International and Permanent Fair of Lebanon in Tripoli by Oscar Niemeyer.' (£500 awarded to contribute towards travel and accommodation costs). Joe Zaatar, Ph.D. candidate, Preservation of Architectural Heritage at Politecnico di Milano.

The Research Publication Grant assists those engaged in design history research with the publication of their research in research-based outputs such as peer-reviewed journal articles or books published by an academic press or museum institution. Four applications were received and awarded funds:

  • Bibliographic Performances and Surrogate Readings. This book contributes to the study and understanding of design history, and models visio-bibliographic practices that students, educators, and historians can explore through their teaching, research, and art and design-based practices. (£300 awarded to contribute towards production subvention costs of paper, printing and binding). Janelle Rebel, Curator of the Brizdle-Schoenberg Special Collections Center,Ringling College of Art and Design.

  • No More Giants: J.M. Richards, modernism and The Architectural Review, 1933-1971. This book looks beyond the dominant historical narratives of buildings and architects, to explore the complex network of people, places and publications that constituted architectural culture and modernism during this period. (£750 awarded to contribute towards the subvention of image printing). Jessica Kelly, Research Degree Leader and Senior Lecturer in Contextual and Theoretical Studies, University for the Creative Arts.

  • Regional Dress: Between Tradition and Modernity. In order to better understand how regional dress developed and evolved across Western Europe from the nineteenth through the twenty-first centuries, this book looks at Alsace as a case study. (£800 awarded to contribute towards the subvention of colour plates). Sara Hume, Curator/Associate Professor, Kent State University Museum.

  • Nordic Design in Translation: the circulation of objects, ideas and practices. This edited collection of essays considers Nordic design (understood in its widest sense, including architecture) outside the framework of national art histories and within transnational dynamics of cultural exchange. (£930 awarded to cover production costs). Charlotte Ashby, Dept of History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London and Shona Kallestrup, Associate Lecturer, School of Art History, University of St Andrew.


The Student Research Access Award is awarded bi-annually to encourage and support research activity amongst students in the field of design history. One application was received and awarded funds:

  • Paper presentation at Race and the Space Between, 1914-1945 in Virginia, USA: ‘”Transformation” and “Hybridity”: The modern interior and Orientalist Imagery’. (£500 awarded to contribute towards flight costs). Vanessa Vanden Berghe, Ph.D Student, Kingston University.


The Virtual Event Award (Student) is awarded bi-annually to encourage interaction, debate and research activity in design history proposed by students. One application was received and awarded funds:

  • Word on the Street (WOTS). A digitally-mapped archive of crowdsourced photos created in the wake of the 2020 pandemic. (£150 awarded to cover domain registration, Twitter advertising and software subscription). Genevieve Drinkwater and Freya Purcell, MA students, History of Design, V&A/RCA.

The Virtual Event Grant (Professional) is awarded to encourage interaction, debate and research activity in design history proposed by established, early career and independent researchers. The Research Access Grant (Professional) is awarded to assist those who need to travel to conduct essential research for their design history scholarship or to present new research at key academic conferences. Sadly, no applications were received for either award in this round.


While congratulating the winners, we would like to express our gratitude to all the applicants, who through their invaluable projects and proposals continue to enrich and expand our field.

Applications are now being received for the following awards:

Virtual Event Grant (Professional) - deadline 25th April

Virtual Event Award (Student) - deadline 25th April

Research Exhibition Grant - deadline 25th April

Research Access Grant (Professional) - deadline 25th April

Student Research Access Award - deadline 25th April

Student/Precariously Employed Speaker Bursaries for Annual Conference - deadline 15th June

Outreach and Events Grant - deadline 3 months prior to proposed event

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