The UAL Design Histories Research Network is a community of practice at UAL, bringing together researchers, staff, and students interested in exploring design history in all its forms. Launched in 2025 with the symposium The Design of History and the History of Design, the network makes visible the diverse work happening across UAL while fostering exchange, collaboration, and support.
Open to all across the university, the network aims to connect those researching, teaching, or practicing at the intersections of design and history.
If you’d like to be more closely involved in organising or shaping upcoming activities, please get in touch with the convenors:
Rujana Rebernjak
r.rebernjak@lcc.arts.ac.uk
Tai Cossich
t.cossich@lcc.arts.ac.uk
Please also sign up for the UAL Design Histories Newsletter .
Events and activities
We are currently developing a new programme of activities for the 2026/2027 academic year. To stay up to date with announcements, please subscribe to our newsletter and check this website regularly for updates.
Past events
2025–26
WiP Lunchtime Seminar Series
The seminars ran online from 2–3pm every third Wednesday of the month during the 2025/2026 academic year. Structured as informal presentations of 20–30 minutes, followed by discussion, the seminars provided an opportunity to receive feedback from colleagues on projects engaging with design history.
The programme below lists the confirmed speakers who took part in the series. Thank you to everyone who presented and contributed to the discussions.
18 March
◆ Joumana Ibrahim ◆ Lecturer in Graphic Branding & Identity at LCC shared her work Urban Surfaces and the Politics of Traces.
18 February
◆Keyi Zhang ◆ PhD Candidate at CSM shared work about her ongoing doctoral research: Constructing the Post-Socialist Body in Globalising China: The Visibility and Materiality of Tracksuits from the Socialist Era to Reform.
17 December
◆ J.P. Hartnett ◆ shared an update from the research project What’s a (Typographic) World?, originally presented at the symposium.
26 November
◆ Rujana Rebernjak ◆ shared work about her monograph titled Designing Modern Yugoslavia: Everyday Life and the Material Culture of Self-Management, 1945–1990.
2025
Symposium
Visit the symposium webpage for more information and to view selected presentation slides.