Jane A. Webb

Jane A. Webb serves as Reader (equivalent to Associate Professor) and Head of the School for Cross-faculty Studies at the University of Warwick. With over twenty years of teaching experience, she specializes in material culture and creative thinking for designers, artists, and art historians. Her academic leadership includes prior roles as Deputy Head of Wolverhampton School of Art (University of Wolverhampton) and Director of Studies at Manchester School of Art (Manchester Metropolitan University).

Webb earned her PhD in 2004 in social history and material culture following undergraduate and postgraduate training in art history and anthropology. Her research integrates visual and material practices through collaborations with makers, archives, historical geographies, and dress collections to explore personal histories and embodied experiences.

Her scholarly work demonstrates consistent interdisciplinary engagement across material culture, fashion history, and sensory studies. Recent publications examine inherited memories in dress collections, color symbolism in fashion, site-specific textiles, and collaborative craft methodologies, revealing a trajectory focused on the intersections of object-based inquiry, memory, and creative practice.

As an educator, Webb maintains active discussion hours (Tuesdays and Thursdays 2-3 pm) and has shaped curricula across multiple institutions. Her leadership in the School for Cross-faculty Studies underscores her commitment to bridging disciplinary boundaries through material-centered research approaches.