Dr Judith Aston

I spent the first eight years of my working life developing pioneering film and creative technology projects in the UK's fledgling interactive and immersive media sectors. Based in Cambridge, I worked on projects with the University, Apple Computing, the BBC, Cambridge Multimedia, Eye Film and Television and Virgin Publishing. At UWE, I continue to work in this sector, working across academia and industry to build interdisciplinary teams for teaching and research.

I have developed and continue to teach into BA, MA and PhD programmes in UWE's Filmmaking Department. I also conduct practice-led research through the University's Digital Cultures Research Centre. 

I am a Founding-Director of i-Docs (the leading centre in Europe for research into evolving documentary practices) and I continue to Co-curate i-Docs events and collaborative partnerships, after having run five international symposia since 2011. I have a well-respected international profile based on this work. I am also active in the anthropology field, having been appointed as Chair of the Royal Anthropological Institute's Film Committee and more recently as a Trustee on the Institute's Council.

Qualifications: 

• BA/MA in Geography, University of Cambridge
• PhD in Anthropology, Film and Interaction Design, Royal College  of Art

Professional membership and roles:  

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
• Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute
• Editorial board member for the Journal of Visual Anthropology
• Editorial Board member for the Journal of Media Practice and Education
• Experienced PhD supervisor and examiner - nationally and internationally
• Experienced national and international reviewer for research bids
• Consultant for the Open Society Foundation 
• Consultant for the BBC Story Academy and Ffilm Cymru Wales

My core research interest is in the application of different approaches to narrative within filmmaking, interactive and immersive media. I am interested in ways of knowing across both Western and non-Western cultures, having grown up in the multicultural city of Leicester, conducted ethnographic fieldwork in India, and lived and worked in Indonesia and Spain. Promoting multi-perspectival thinking and transcultural understanding is a key driver behind my work.

I am particularly keen to apply my skills to the development of transformative narratives which can help to tackle 21^st century challenges such as climate emergency, social justice and ideological polarisation. I am always interested to talk to potential research collaborators and am actively seeking PhD students with a shared interest in my areas of interest and expertise. See below for my publications and practice-led projects.

Building Healthy Communities - Principal Investigator on an AHRC Impact project in the port area of Avonmouth on the Severn Estuary. Applying ethnographic fieldwork and polyphonic documentary methods to community-based dialogue around the area’s important role in the transition to net zero.

Polyphonic Documentary – Co-convenor of an ongoing international collaboration with i-Docs colleagues to explore, through creative practice interventions, the application of Bakhtin's work on dialogism and heteroglossia to evolving documentary practices.