The Centre for Design History is to collaborate with the University of São Paulo on a project to develop academic design writing skills in the Global South.

The initiative – entitled Design Writing: Words and Images, Objects and Histories – is a series of British Academy-funded international writing workshops to develop the skills of Postgraduate Researchers and Early Career Researchers in the Global South.

The workshops take place as part of a five-year collaboration that brings together the university’s globally-renowned Centre for Design History (CDH) and the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Sao Paolo. The UK side will be led by Dr. Annebella Pollen – Reader in History of Art and Design, and Director of the CDH – working with Professor Priscila Farias in Brazil.

The Centre for Design History will deliver a series of online workshops on writing about objects, images and archives, pertinent to the design history interests of both sets of partners. Questions asked at the events will include: What are the challenges and benefits of writing about design for English language domains? How can objects be verbalised? What might be gained in these acts of translation?

Dr Pollen said: “I am delighted to have won the recognition and support of the British Academy with this prestigious funding scheme. Design history colleagues in Brighton and Sao Paulo have worked together to share interests and skills on individual projects over many years, and these Writing Workshops will enable us to build on these developments and to nurture a new generation of international design writers and researchers.”

The British Academy scheme enables UK universities and partners in the Global South to work together to develop the skills and career development of researchers in the host country to submit to international academic journals and to learn skills in research bidding. This programme is funded by the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy through the Global Challenges Research Fund.