dr. Jane Tynan

Personal information

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.

Current PhD students:

Lisa Sneijder, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (FWO-funded)

Ronja Duwe, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NWO-funded)

Research

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 - clothing, graphic art and political ephemera - in social movements, political imprisonment and conflict.

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 water-resistant synthetic textiles, how they transformed expectations of leisure clothing and shaped perceptions of everyday weather. Cultural imaginaries of comfort frame this investigation into the relationship between climate and clothing.

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 on the editorial board of Journal of Design History and as book series co-editor of 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.

Ancillary activities

Palgrave Studies in Fashion and the Body | London | co-editor | 2020-09-16 - present

Ancillary activities are updated daily

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Art and Culture, History, Antiquity

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