From Experience: The Arts PhD in Practice. In collaboration with the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Gothenburg, the University of Warwick
For this conference, we ask artist-researchers to consider: what was/were the motivation(s) to pursue a PhD in the arts? How has the actual experience of doing doctoral studies affected or influenced their practice? Have specific academic requirements and protocols modified their work process and, if so, in what ways? What obstacles, opportunities, and/or unexpected turns have been generated by working at the conjunction of two domains: the professional worlds of arts practice and the academic worlds of higher arts education and doctoral training? In so doing, we hope to build an opportunity to exchange knowledge and insight in the navigation of environments that are still relatively new. We also believe that considerations rooted in the actual experience of doctoral studies in the arts by different practitioners is essential to breaking new ground in the debate about the arts PhD and artistic research.
Organised by Vrije Universiteit Brussel/ Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel/ RITCS School of Arts, University of Warwick, University of Stellenbosch, University of Gothenburg. All universities are part of the Eutopia network.
Are you interested in art- based research and do you want to broaden your network by getting to know artist - researchers from the University of Stellenbosch, the University of Gothenburg, the University of Warwick or VUB/Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel/ RITCS School of Arts? Join us on 5th and/or 6th March for a two- day conference.
Day 1, 5th March 2026, 9:30 am till 6 pm. At RITCS School of Arts, Antoine Dansaertstraat 70, 1000 Brussels.
Contributions by doctoral researchers and Doctors in the Arts from VUB/KCB/RITCS, University of Warwick, University of Stellenbosch, University of Gothenburg.
A contribution from Zofia Smolarska-Korkmaz (University of Warsaw) will introduce voices from outside the symposium. She will share insights from her qualitative interviews with Belgian and Polish artist/designer-researchers and academic administrators.