Jane Arnfield

Jane Arnfield is an Associate Professor at Northumbria University, specializing in Design Arts and Creative Industries. Her work bridges (auto)biographical theatre practice with ethnographic and archival studies in the social sciences and humanities. She holds a BA (Hons) in Drama from Dartington College of Arts (1988).

Her research focuses on memory discourses, biographical narrative interviewing methods, and performance methodologies. She developed the Living Memorial Theatre Methodology (LMTM), which explores how historical narratives can be transformed into ensemble, choral, or solo performances staged at culturally significant sites. This work emphasizes participatory engagement, enabling audiences to 'inhabit' testimonies and reinterpret the past through present perspectives.

Arnfield’s collaborations include projects with the Marek Edelman Dialogue Centre (Lodz, Poland) and the Defiant Requiem Foundation (Washington, DC). As a Leverhulme Trust International Academic Fellow (2018–2019), she advanced LMTM research at the University of Lodz. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to education and social justice.

She actively supervises PhD students on topics like performance and testimony, biographical monodrama, and cultural memory. Her recent research includes YouWalk-YouReclaim, a co-assessment approach for accessible university environments, and Adapting Testimonies, exploring legal-drama intersections in mass atrocity contexts.