About me
Bio | I am a design historian and broadcaster, specialist in exploring how design, and visual and material culture expand understanding of cultural history. I was consultant/curator to the National Treasures Project which culminated in a 4-part TV series for RTE1 and an exhibition at the National Museum of Ireland (2018) https://nationaltreasures.ie |
Areas of expertise | My current research interests focus on the history of Irish design, graphic design, the visual culture of aviation and travel, and Irish philanthropic architecture. |
Keywords | design, graphic design, design history, cultural history, social history, design theory, tourism, aviation, material culture, visual culture, architecture, philanthropy, |
Member Details
Full Name | Linda King (Professional Historian) |
Membership Type | Professional Historian |
Experience
Education | - PhD: Dublin City University (DCU), Design History/Irish Studies, Thesis Title: 'Traditions and Modernities – Aer Lingus and the Visualisation of Irish Identities 1951-1961' |
Employment | I lecture in Design History and Visual Culture at IADT, Dublin (1999-), where I am also the co-Programme Chair of the BA (Hons) in Visual Communication Design (2013-). I am currently a Visiting Scholar at the School of Irish Studies, Concordia University, Montreal and was previously a researcher and assistant curator at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York. |
Consultancy work | I am/have been a design and historical consultant for a number of national and international organisations including: |
Management & Administrative experience | I have over 25 years experience in design education. My current role includes the academic management and oversight of a highly successful undergraduate design programme that has been internationally praised and recognised. I have extensive experience in curriculum development and validation including the successful completion of programmatic and institutional reviews. |
Teaching | Undergraduate and Postgraduate: design history, visual and material cultures, regional modernisms, design professionalisation, contemporary design practices (all with a particular emphasis on Ireland and North America), philanthropic architecture (with a particular emphasis on Dublin). |
Outreach activities | I regularly give public or invited lectures or conduct interviews. National lectures have included those at: the National Museum of Ireland; the Royal Irish Academy (for RTE’s Reflecting the Rising commemoration); the Royal Dublin Society (for the Irish Museums Association Annual Conference); the National Library of Ireland; the National Gallery of Ireland; the National Print Museum; the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny; Dublin City Gallery; the Irish Museum of Modern Art; the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland; Temple Bar Studios and Gallery; the Guinness Storehouse (for Heritage Week); Parnell Summer School; Dublin City University; National University of Ireland, Maynooth; Trinity College Dublin; the National College of Art and Design; Dublin Institute of Technology; Cork Institute of Technology; the Bord Gais Energy Theatre (for the Offset annual creative festival). |
Committees & Associations | - Member of the Board of the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) |
Awards | - 2018: Visiting Scholar, School of Irish Studies, Concordia University, Montreal |
Other activities | Conference and symposium organisation include: |
Publications
Books | - Linda King and Oonagh Young (eds.) Transdisciplinary Practice: Images, objects and discourse across creative contexts (Dublin, 2017). |
Book Chapters | - '(Re)imagining communities: cara magazine and negotiation of Irish identity, 1997–2017', in Gisela Holfter, Bettina Migge (eds), Ireland in the European Eye, Royal Irish Academy (Dublin, 2019). |
Peer Reviewed Journals | - ‘''A Sense of Ireland”: reflecting and refracting modernity in Irish culture’, in Gerry Smyth and Deaglán Ó Donghaile (eds.), Marginal Irish Modernisms, a special edition of the Irish Studies Review (Oxford, 2018). |
Other Journals | - Reform and Advocacy: The legacy of the Kilkenny Design Workshops (1963-1988) in Vernacular, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (Kilkenny, 2013). |
Published reports | - Karen Hennessy (ed.) Irish Design 2015: Making Design Matter, Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (Kilkenny, 2016). |
Electronic Publications | - ‘National Treasures: on Ireland's design history’, RTE Culture (online at: https://www.rte.ie/culture/2018/0410/953478-national-treasures-linda-king-on-irelands-design-history/ (2018) |
Reviews | - Eileen Gray: Her Life and Her Work (book review), Canadian Journal of Irish Studies (2017). - I am also a peer reviewer for many Irish and international publishers on design history, art history, visual and material cultures and education. I have also extensive experience as an editor for academic publications. |