Content area
Full Text
The professional doctorate
Edited by Professor Gail Sanders and Dr Rosemarye T. Taylor
Introduction
This paper outlines the distinctions and challenges of studying a DProf by Public Works by drawing on my experience of completing my own DProf: "An entrepreneurial strategy for curating in public spaces" from the Institute of Work Based Learning at Middlesex University. A candidate of the DProf by Public Works is expected to engage in advanced, self-managed and/or collaborative work-based research which has the potential to achieve excellence in professional practice, resulting in original work worthy of publication and is equivalent to the PhD by Published Works. The PhD by Publications (Published Works) consists of four to eight peer-reviewed publications which form a substantial and yet coherent whole, and is accompanied by a commentary which links the submitted works and outlines their coherence and significance. The DProf by Public Works consists of a 25,000-30,000-word Contextual Statement which is a critical reflection on five Public Works.
I have been an Academic in the Business School at Middlesex University for 20 years, an independent curator for over ten years, and an artist for over 15 years. The time was right for me to step back and reflect on my ten years of curatorial practice, when I applied for a place on the Method programme run by Solar Associates. The emphasis of the programme was on the "Reflective Practitioner within Cultural Leadership", providing mentoring, coaching, and networking to explore what this means. This enabled me to reflect on my roles and re-interpret them as: an academic who is a self-made curator-in-residency of socially engaged practices running workshops with students in a Business School; an independent curator operating as a self-appointed curator-in-residency of site-specific practices in public spaces; and an artist who is a self-taught welded metal sculptor. I realized what linked all these roles together was the practice of improvisation, which values spontaneous moments of sudden inventiveness in response to the stimuli of one's immediate environment and inner feelings (Figure 1 [Figure omitted. See Article Image.]).
As I looked back on my curatorial practice, I was struck by its temporary nature, localised as a result of local collaborations, in some cases drawing on the existing funding options, and leading the public to new...