Dr Cath Davies

​e: cadavies@cardiffmet.ac.uk
t: 02920 416665

Specialist Subject Areas

• Representations of Death in Visual Culture 
• Contextual approaches to Fashion design
• Film, Fabric and Embodiment
• Subcultural Style
• Representations of Monstrosity, abjection and the grotesque
• Glamour, materiality and femininity
• Stardom and celebrity

Qualifications

PhD by published works: Discourses of Dissolution: Designing the Deceased in Visual and Material Culture 
Senior Fellow HEA
Postgraduate Diploma in Media Education (UWIC)
PGCE (FE and HE)(University of Wales)
BA Joint Hons English and Drama (University of Wales, Aberystwyth) 2:1

Biography

Cath is a Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture contributing primarily to the Constellation (Contextual/Critical studies) modules within the school. Her teaching addresses cultural approaches to Art and design with a specific expertise in Media, Film and Fashion evident in study group topics on Conceptual and Contextual approaches to Fashion Design,‘Dark Matters: Visualising Gothic Literature’ and ‘Goddesses and Monsters: Glamour and the Grotesque’. She was previously the Programme Director for the Constellation module and the MA Art and Design pathway on Death and Visual Culture, reflecting her specific research interests. 

In Sept 2021 she was awarded a PhD by published works for her thesis Discourses of Dissolution: Designing the Deceased in Visual and Material Culture. Her research interrogates conceptual meanings in representations of the body with specific reference to the interplay between discourses of preservation and disintegration in posthumous celebrity, film and fashion.

From 2016 – 2018 Cath was involved in an Academic Lead role that maintained quality assurance and quality enhancement within the School of Art and Design. This included moderation and calibration processes across programmes; generating learning and teaching reflective practices amongst all staff; supporting personal tutoring strategies and peer mentoring. Within the school, she has been chair of the programme directors’ forum and Moderation committee and participated on the Mitigating Circumstances panel and School Management Planning team. Beyond CSAD at university level, she has been involved in the personal tutor working group, partnership/collaborative programme committee and an Academic Standards and Quality Assurance board member. She is currently Link Moderator for a partnership programme BA Hons Photographic Practice at the Arts Academy in Cardiff and has recently completed the HEA new External Examiners training. Quality assurance experiences within the school formed the basis of a successful Senior Fellowship application (January 2017) and addressed supporting staff in delivering effective assessment feedback.

Her experiences of teaching cultural theory were originally nurtured in the FE sector, lecturing in A level Film Studies and Media Studies from 1994 – 2001. During this period, she participated in WJEC exam board examining and moderating in both Film and Media courses, including experience as a Principal Examiner in World Cinema within the Film Studies A level programme. In addition to a range of publications aimed at A level teaching and learning, Cath has also delivered conference papers and workshops to the A level teaching sector. Her interest in all aspects of film education continued in her capacity as a board member at The Film Agency for Wales from 2008 – 2014, with a role that assisted in the development of projects and resources that nurtured Film in both the formal and informal education sector. This role has included the role of Chair of the Wales’ Film Education Network Forum. 

 At Cardiffmet, she has also been instrumental in the design, development and delivery of both Broadcast Media and Popular Culture and Media Studies and Visual Cultures undergraduate programmes. In 2009 she was a BAFTA Jury panel member (Welsh Short Film).

In September 2022, she presented the Keynote address at the ‘Death and Culture IV’ international conference in York, showcasing research on ‘The Composition of Decomposition’: Dissecting the dynamics of decay in Popular Culture.