معرفی
Lina Hakim is a Senior Lecturer in Visual and Material Culture at Kingston University's School of Creative and Cultural Industries, Department of Critical and Historical Studies. She joined Kingston University in October 2015, teaching Critical and Historical Studies primarily to Graphic Design students. She also serves as a Sessional Lecturer at Imperial College London, where she teaches 'Science, Art & Design' to undergraduate STEM students and supervises an independent study module on 'Science Culture and Society'. Previously, she was an Andrew Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she coordinated the V&A Research Institute Pilot Project exploring models of object-led inquiry and developing opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaborative research.
Her educational background includes:
- PhD in Humanities & Cultural Studies from the London Consortium, Birkbeck, University of London (2013)
- MRes in Humanities & Cultural Studies from the London Consortium, Birkbeck, University of London
- MA in Book Arts from Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London
- BA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut
Lina Hakim's research focuses on the intersections between visual and material cultures of science, technology, craft, and play. Her work examines how objects facilitate thinking and understanding at multiple levels including encounter, production, use, and re-appropriation. Her doctoral project, 'Scientific Playthings: Artefacts, Affordance, History', investigated how 19th-century scientific instruments like the string surface model, Crookes radiometer, and gyroscope transitioned into toys. Her research is deeply informed by her artistic and design practice, emphasizing attentiveness to skill and craftsmanship, phenomenological experiences of objects, and the political dimensions of material assemblages.
Her scholarly publications reveal a consistent methodology centered on object-oriented inquiry, with particular attention to how material encounters mediate knowledge production across historical and contemporary contexts. Her work spans historical analysis of scientific instruments, critical examinations of design activism, and theoretical explorations of material phenomenology, demonstrating a distinctive approach that bridges academic research with creative practice.
Among her notable recognitions is the Andrew Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she coordinated the V&A Research Institute Pilot Project exploring models of object-led inquiry and developing opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaborative research.
Hakim has taught across multiple programs including Graphic Design BA (Hons) and Illustration Animation BA (Hons) at Kingston University. At the V&A, she taught 'Key Concepts' on the V&A/RCA History of Design MA programme, examining the latest theories and methodologies in the field, and ran a 'Thinking Things' reading group for V&A staff. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes experiential learning through material engagement, connecting theoretical frameworks with hands-on object analysis.
Her work bridges academic research with creative practice, reflecting her background as both a scholar and an artist. Through her various roles at Kingston University, Imperial College London, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, she has developed a distinctive approach to material culture studies that connects historical analysis with contemporary concerns about the political and epistemological dimensions of objects.
