Role
Dr Pickering Wood joined the School of Arts and Humanities at NTU in 2019 and contributes to scholarly activity, module leadership and teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level on BA (Hons) History and MA Museum and Heritage Development. She is also a PhD Supervisor facilitating studies that bridge historical and creative disciplines.
Her academic interests include the development of digital skills and narratives, utilising technology as a tool for enhancing experiential learning and practice seeking to rethink pedagogical approaches for online-learning. Her background in creative design supports her interest in developing creative assessments approaches within humanities focusing on the use of film, audio and visual methods to showcase historical understanding and interpretation. Dr Pickering Wood also seeks to address the lack of representation of minority groups and working-class narratives within Higher Education disciplines through challenging divisive rhetoric and establishing new approaches to inclusive assessment.
Career overview
Dr Pickering Wood has developed her focus as an academic researcher and educator examining how creative practice can influence contemporary approaches to museum and heritage interpretation. Her background is in Textile Design and Innovation, examining the history and symbolism of heritage crafts and the cultural significance of these approaches within the communities that practice them. She secured funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council through a Collaborative Doctoral Partnership Award to undertake her PhD at NTU in collaboration with the Framework Knitters Museum and developed interdisciplinary skills working with complex artefacts and digital processes. This practice-led research focused on safeguarding heritage craft skills that are at risk of being forgotten and on the difficulties that arise when analysing complex or delicate artefacts such as textiles. Prior to joining the teaching team within the School of Arts and Humanities she lectured in Fashion and Textile Design for the School of Art and Design at NTU before undertaking project management roles within the heritage sector working with museums and heritage sites on projects funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England and Heritage Open Days. This included the strategic development and implementation of accessible arts and heritage activity focussing on education and community outreach, delivering museum education projects across the UK for the National Justice Museum, engaging diverse audiences through public legal education and citizenship outreach and identifying ways to develop creative and digital approaches to accessibility and engagement. Rebekah continues to work closely with museums and heritage sites to develop creative research opportunities and events.
Research areas
Her current research interests include:
- The use of technology to widen accessibility and access in cultural environments
- The digitisation of archives and collections.
- The development of creative processes within museum and heritage practice, focusing on materiality and both tangible and intangible heritage
Publications
WOOD, R.E., 2013. The knitter's tale: a practice-led approach to framework knitting through a contemporary exploration of traditional practices, patterns, skills and stories. Nottingham Trent University.
WOOD, R. E, 2018, Creative Court UK: Engaging young people with the history of law and justice. Case Studies, Vol 21 (2018), GEM (Group for Education in Museums), London. pp 21-22.
WOOD, R. E. (2017), Creative Court UK – Exploring Public Legal Education through the Arts. The Expert Witness. London. Vol 1 Issue 22 – Winter 2017/18 pp 81-82. Available online
Course(s) I teach on
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Postgraduate taught / Postgraduate research | Full-time / Part-timehttps://www.ntu.ac.uk/course/arts-and-humanities/res/phd-research-degrees-in-arts-and-humanities
UN Sustainable Development Goals
The main UN Sustainable Development Goals which inform Rebekah's work are:
