A selection of Question journal covers

The editorial team behind the SWW DTP PGR-led journal Question has changed. General editor Sam Young and submissions editor Rachel Beaney have stepped down. The new team comprises Georgia Holly and Mary-Jannet Leith from Southampton and Berber van der Meulen-van der Veen from Cardiff.

General editors

Georgia is a third year PhD student interested in the sustainable development of the ocean. Her PhD focusses on the ecological, social and cultural benefits of protecting underwater cultural heritage (UCH) as part of the marine environment, and she is currently writing up policy briefings for the integration of UCH into marine management frameworks.

Berber is in the third year of her part-time PhD on the socio-political changes in north-western Europe in the Late Roman period. This focusses on the potential evidence for migration in the area as well as different social, cultural and ethnic expressions of identity using material culture and the organisation of production of copper-alloy dress accessories.

Submissions editor

Mary-Jannet Leith is a second year PhD student and professional recorder player, interested in exploring and performing Early Music with Scottish connections. Her PhD research focuses on Scottish musical culture in eighteenth-century London, combining a historical analysis of the migration of Scottish musical identity with a focus on the role of Scottish musicians in the creative context of eighteenth-century London.

We are excited to announce the theme of issue 7: Sustainability and Innovation. Both within and outside the world of academia, sustainability has become a significant pillar of society. Within the realms of sustainable development we see both environmental sustainability, which describes the connections between the human exploitation of the planet and the ecological functioning of the earth’s biosphere, and cultural sustainability, which raises questions regarding the maintenance of societal beliefs, practices and heritage conservation.

Within our research, the term ‘sustainability’ considers the future of our disciplines, the maintenance of our research practice and the evolution of our principles.

We believe the theme of ‘innovation’ lends itself to the forward-looking connotations of sustainability, and leads us on well from this year’s Research Festival: Futures. We encourage applications which look towards the future development of their field.

Through issue 7: Sustainability and Innovation, we are excited to learn what these terms mean to each discipline. We are keen to raise questions such as:

  • How has sustainability changed through the ages?
  • How sustainable is your discipline?
  • Can we share the message of sustainability through practice in art and music?
  • What new innovations have occurred in your research field?
  • How has innovation driven your practice?

As part of this theme, we aim to make Question more sustainable as a journal. One way of doing this is limiting the environmental impact of the printing and shipping process. We are also working out how to make the journal more inclusive to the many practice-based PhD students within our DTP and create opportunities for them to share their work through practice based submissions.

With the new team and a new issue in the works, we are keen to invite anyone interested to contribute as a subject editor to get in touch by emailing: questionsubmissions@gmail.com or by contacting the editors directly:

Many thanks to Sam and Rachel for all their amazing work and we are looking forward to continuing our wonderful PGR journal!

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