Jane Tynan is Assistant Professor of Design History and Theory with a background in cultural history and gender studies. She coordinates the MA Design Cultures program, teaches on the BA MKDA Design track and also contributes to the new BSc Creative Technology (VU-UT). In 2020, she joined VU Amsterdam from Central Saint Martins in London where she taught history and theory of design and developed the MA Fashion Critical Studies. Alongside extensive experience in curriculum design, course development and external examining, she is a Fellow of Advance HE (formerly HE Academy, UK) and has been visiting lecturer at Goldsmiths University of London, Royal College of Art London, University College Dublin, University of Oxford and Amsterdam University College. Jane has supervised 6 PhDs to completion and welcomes new graduate students working within her areas of expertise.
dr. Jane Tynan
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Art and Culture, History, Antiquity
My research lies at the intersection of history, fashion and politics. For me, clothing practices and technologies are critical to understanding modes of citizenship and governance. One strand of my research concerns the political significance of uniform clothing, an embedded social practice that enabled the development of policing, military and public service roles in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I have also researched design objects - clothing, graphic art and political ephemera - associated with conflict, political imprisonment and social movements.
I am PI on the NWO-funded 4-year project “Synthetic Adventures: (un)sustainability and (dis)comfort in the design, making and use of outdoor clothing” (2026-2029) which explores cultural drivers for the growth of outdoor clothing consumption in the face of complex environmental problems. We consider twentieth century developments in hydrophobic synthetic textiles, how they transformed expectations of leisure clothing and shaped perceptions of everyday weather. This contributes to research on fashion and textile ecologies by focusing on the environmental consequences of modern solutions to body discomfort.
My research has reached wider audiences through blogs (The Conversation, RTÉ Brainstorm), TV and radio interviews (BBC UK, ABC Australia) podcast interviews (New Books Podcast), articles (Selvedge Magazine, BBC History Magazine) and media communications (NRC, The Independent, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, BBC News, CNN, Middle East Eye, National Geographic). I have served as peer reviewer for various publishers and journals, am editorial board member of the Journal of Design History and co-editor of the book series Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body. In addition, I am on the editorial team commissioned to develop Palgrave Handbook on Fashion and the Body due to be published in 2028.
- Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body | London | co-editor | 2020-09-16 - present
- Journal of Design History | London | Editorial Board Member | 2021-01-28 - present
Ancillary activities are updated daily
Profile
Keywords
- Design History, Design Poltics, Environmental History, Design Cultures, Social M...
Publications