معرفی
Dr Alison Slater is Reader and Director of Programmes at Manchester Metropolitan University's School of Art and Design, where she also serves as Head of the Department of Art and Performance. With a career at Manchester Met since 2008 as an Associate Lecturer and permanent staff since 2013, she has established herself as a leading researcher in dress history and material culture.
Her educational background includes a PhD from Manchester Met (2011, AHRC-funded), an MA in Textiles from Manchester Met (2006), and a BA (Hons) in Textile/Surface Design from Bolton Institute of H.E. (now University of Bolton). Prior to Manchester Met, she worked at the University of Bolton and University of Salford.
Slater's research focuses on encounters with dress, particularly working-class and everyday dress, using oral history and material culture approaches. She explores the relationships between objects and identity, history and memory, especially experiences outside traditional historical records. Her work examines how immaterial ideas like relationships, emotions, and memories impact our encounters with material things and persist beyond people's lives and the objects themselves. Recent research investigates 'bequeathed identities'—what objects left behind after death reveal about their former owners' identities.
Her publications trend shows a consistent focus on material culture and memory, with recent work expanding into collaborative projects and edited volumes that bring together diverse perspectives on dress narratives. The 2023 co-edited volume 'Memories of Dress: Recollections of Material Identities' represents a significant contribution that synthesizes approaches from dress history, fashion studies, and material culture.
As an academic leader, Slater has supervised numerous PhD students to completion and currently oversees several in-progress doctoral projects. Her research has been supported by significant grants, including the AHRC-funded 'Life on the Outskirts' project (2017-2018) where she served as Co-Investigator. She has established valuable collaborations with institutions like Castlefield Gallery and the Helen Storey Foundation.
Slater maintains active professional engagement as an external examiner for Liverpool John Moores University and as a member of the AHRC Peer Review College, demonstrating her standing within the academic community.
