Danny Cookney

Dr Danny Cookney serves as Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for Digital User Experience and Creative Digital Design Degree Apprenticeships at Manchester Metropolitan University's School of Digital Arts (SODA), where he also contributes to the Research Leadership Group. Recognized as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, his career includes international teaching experience in Malaysia and China, alongside external examination roles in Singapore and Egypt.

Cookney's transdisciplinary research critically examines intersections of sound and image within music contexts, specializing in record cover design, music videos, and musician portraiture for electronic/dance genres. His parallel exploration of visual communication in politics spans right-wing propaganda analysis and protest aesthetics, culminating in a People's History Museum exhibition commemorating the Peterloo Massacre's bicentennial. This dual focus manifests in publications addressing digital archives, political visual culture, and music geography.

Publication trends reveal evolving scholarly engagement: recent works (2024-2025) analyze YouTube's rave archives and San Francisco's contested musical identity, while 2017-2019 outputs investigate music video persistence across media platforms, underground dance architecture, and far-right design strategies. Collectively, his output demonstrates consistent methodological innovation in bridging musicology, visual studies, and political discourse.

Professional recognition includes:

• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

As Degree Apprenticeship Programme Leader, Cookney oversees student cohort development in digital design fields; specific advisees and grant projects remain undocumented in available materials. His Research Leadership Group membership reflects active institutional contribution to SODA's academic strategy and research culture.