About
Dr Dan Ashton (he/him) - Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries in the Department of Art and Media Technology at Winchester School of Art at the University of Southampton.
My education, research and knowledge exchange activities focus on cultural and creative industries organisations, work, place and policy. Research in these areas has been presented internationally, published in academic journals, and shared in policy reports, online videos and blogs. Current collaborative projects are on cultural strategies and regional creative economies.
My education experience includes programme and module leadership at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and external examiner and programme validation roles. I am a Senior Fellow of Advance HE and an Enterprise Educators UK fellow. I am a PhD supervisor with experience of supervising to completion and being an internal and external viva examiners.
I hold several connected roles outside of the University including being a Member of the College of Experts for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and on several editorial boards (Cultural Trends; Culture; Journal of Education and Work).
At the University, I am the Impact Lead for Winchester School of Art, a Co-Director of the Work Futures Research Centre and an Associate Director with Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities (which involves co-coordinating the Culture and Creativity Policy Network and Southampton Cultural Geoanalytics).
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Culture, place and policy
- Cultural and creative industries work and organisations
Current research
My research and knowledge exchange is organised by two connected strands:
- Cultural and creative industries work and organisations
- Culture, place and policy
I have a long-standing research focus on cultural and creative industries that explores policy, place, work, organisations, economies and technologies.
This was first developed in my PhD on digital games design titled, 'The industry of creativity: economic visions, creative subjects and innovative technologies in process' (AHRC funded at Lancaster University). This work was published in Convergence, Journal of Cultural Economy, and Games and Culture.
Subsequent development focused on several cultural and creative industries, including screenwriting and film and TV. Articles in this area also examined “cultural workers-in-the-making” (2013) and pathways into working in the creative economy (2015). Research collaborations with Dr Karen Seaward-Patel have examined social media influencers and vlogging as a form of cultural work and in terms of gendered sites of cultural production.
Research on creative work also connects with developments and issues relating to artificial intelligence, including ‘Creative Work and Artificial Intelligence: Imaginaries, Assemblages and Portfolios’ in the Artificial Creativity special issue of the open access journal Transformation sand ‘“People don’t buy art, they buy artists”: Robot artists – work, identity and expertise’ in Convergence (with Dr Karen Seward-Patel).
I have collaborated with colleagues in bring together several edited publications. In 2013 I co-edited Cultural Work and Higher Education with Dr Caitriona Noonan. In 2022 I co-edited with Professor Dawn Bennett, Dr Zoe Hope Bulaitis, Dr Michael Tomlinson a special issue of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education titled, ‘In the name of employability: faculties and futures for the arts and humanities in higher education’. Across 2025-26 I am co-editing with Dr Tamsyn Dent, Professor Dave O’Brien and Professor Pat Thomson a special issue of Journal of Education and Work on ‘creative education.’
Research on creative work has been explored through several funded projects:
· Creative Futures Exchange (2021-22; Project Lead)
Funded through a University Global Partnership Award. Developed in partnership with the University of Ghana, the project created spaces for educators, industry practitioners and students to share international experiences and address possible futures for working in the creative industries.
· Diverse Capacities (2023-24; Project Co-Lead)
This AHRC funded project (with Professor Will May and Dr Aiysha Jahan) focused on developing and sustaining new connections between local government officers, creative communities, and creative industry professionals across sectors in the Solent region. Project outputs include policy reports, commission works by creative practitioners, and academic publications.
· Creative Corridors in a Dispersed Region (2026-27; Lead for University of Southampton)
This project is collaboration between the Southern Creative Catalyst, the Royal Society of Art (RSA), the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and the University of Southampton. Please see the RSA website for more details.
My research on culture, place and policy has been developed through several interconnected projects, collaborations and partnerships.
My main, current and ongoing project is on cultural strategies:
· Cultural Strategies (2023 - ongoing; Project Lead)
I am currently collaborating with Ian Leete and Local Government Association (LGA) on the Cultural Strategies Think Kit and Network. The Think Kit develops the recommendations from the Cultural Strategies and Futures report into resources, examples and suggestions for those developing and sustaining cultural strategies across the UK. The report also features in the LGA Culture Hub and National Cultural Framework (2026). This work is supported by University of Southampton Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding.
My research and knowledge exchange activities around cultural sector data and qualitative data for place-based decision-making have been developed through several projects:
- · Local government data analytics for culture and creativity (2021-22; Project Lead)
Project Team: Professor Dan Ashton; Makanani Bell
Funded by Southampton Institute of Arts and Humanities’ Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), this project examines how local government authorities in England design, structure and implement data analytics relating to the cultural and creative industries (CCI). Co-authored findings from this were published with Makanani Bell in Big Data + Society. - · Neighbouring Data (2022-23; Project Co-Lead)
Project Team: Professor Nicky Marsh; Dr Joseph Owen; Professor Dan Ashton
Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the And Towns series of projects, this project offers insight into the kinds of qualitative data that local authorities and communities need to inform their place-based decision making. Outputs set out here include a journal article in Policy Studies, a think piece for the Local Government Association, an experimental model for qualitative data) and a series of reports.
- · Southampton Cultural Data Observatory (2022-23; Project Co-Lead)
Project Team: Professor Dan Ashton; Professor Fraser Sturt
The SCDO project was funded by University of Southampton Arts & Culture Strategic Priorities Funding 2023-24 (supported by Higher Education Innovation Funding and Policy Funding. The SCDO project resulted in the creation and evaluation of a beta (test) site. The project report outlines and reflects on the University of Southampton’s collaboration with diverse sectors across Southampton to create a cultural data observatory. - · Southampton Cultural Geoanalytics (2025-26; Project Lead)
Project Team: Professor Dan Ashton; Professor Fraser Sturt; Professor Julia Branson; Andy Sutton.
The University of Southampton has significant geoanalytics expertise through GeoData and Southampton Geospatial. Geoanalytics enables precise mapping, spatial analysis and visualization that supports location-based insights, economic cluster analysis and community engagement through spatial storytelling. The Southampton Cultural Geoanalytics project (funded by Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities) builds on significant collaboration between GeoData and research in the arts and humanities to now explore new collaborations, projects and areas of impact and engagement. My own contribution to this project focused on the idea of travel to culture.
These research and knowledge exchange activities link to my role on the Advisory Board of the National Cultural Data Observatory.
I have also completed projects and publications on:
· Data practices of audience profiling and segmentation in Cultural Trends (later published as a chapter in Audience Data and Research: Perspectives from Cultural Policy, Arts Management and Practice).
· Funding of culture/cultures of funding. This project included a workshop with academic, industry and policy participants documented in this video, presentations at several conferences, a policy brief, journal articles in Poetics and European Journal of Cultural Studies, a piece for Arts Professional and a two contributions to the Ordinary Things exhibition.
Research projects
Active projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
I am a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA) and an Enterprise Educators UK fellow, and hold a MA in Professional Practice in Higher Education (Bath Spa University 2014).
From 2008 to 2015 I was a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University (UK) teaching on the Media Communications and the Creative Media Practice degree programmes.
I joined Winchester School of Art as the MA Programme Leader for Global Media Management in April 2015 and held this role until September 2020. In July 2018, the teaching team received a Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Award. The nomination highlighted how ‘the teaching team have distinguished themselves through a collegiate approach and a commitment to developing innovative ways to engage students through research-informed and technology-enhanced learning.’
During 2023-24 I was the Programme Leader for the MA in Arts and Cultural Leadership and continue to contribute. Through the MA Arts and Cultural Leadership, students engage with a diverse network of partners to understand and shape the role of arts and culture in society.
From 2020-2025 I was the module leader for the undergraduate option module Business Skills for the Creative Industries.
I have led or co-led the following pedagogic research project:
Measuring the environmental impact of cultural and creative sector authentic assessment
(2023-24; University of Southampton Centre for Higher Education Practice)
Examines how students can measure and reflect on the environmental impact of authentic assessment activities.
Creative Futures Exchange
(2021-22; University of Southampton and University of Ghana)
Examines internationalisation of creative industries curricula through Collaborative Online International Learning. Themes include: Civic roles and relationships; Sustainable business models and practices; Equality, diversity and inclusion; and Platforms and Technologies. Outputs include Curriculum Development Resources and three reports.
Unexpected Enterprises
(2018-19; Enterprise Educators UK (£7,500).
Examined emerging forms of media entrepreneurship pedagogies. Findings from this project were shared as an iDoc, a report, and published as a book chapter in Pathways into Creative Working Lives (2020; edited by Stephanie Taylor and Susan Luckman) and were recently revisited with two evidence submissions to Youth Employment, Education and Training (UK Parliament) and Young People and Work (Department of Work and Pensions)
Industry Intersections: Flexible Learning through Professional Practice
(2012-13; Higher Education Academy Teaching)
Examined ways in which students pursue their professional practice in partnership with external partners (e.g. live project briefs, project collaboration, work experience placements).
Creative Contexts: Work Placements, Peer Learning and Professional Practice in the Creative Media Industries
(2011-12; Higher Education Academy)
Student videos exploring experiences from work placements in the creative industries. Related publications in British Journal of Sociology of Education and Journal of Further and Higher Education.
In 2022 I co-edited (with Professor Dawn Bennett, Dr Zoe Hope Bulaitis, Dr Michael Tomlinson) a special issue of Arts and Humanities in Higher Education titled, ‘In the name of employability: faculties and futures for the arts and humanities in higher education’ and across 2025-26 I am co-editing (with Dr Tamsyn Dent, Professor Dave O’Brien and Professor Pat Thomson) a special issue of Journal of Education and Work on ‘creative education.’
I have undertaken roles as an external examiner and on validation panels for several UK higher and further education institutes. I am currently the external examiner for the following:
- ACM and Middlesex University: MA Creative Industries Futures
- University of the Arts Singapore (La Salle College): BA Arts Management; BA Music Business; MA Arts and Cultural Leadership.
I have held Chief External Examiner roles in the School of Performing and Digital Arts (Royal Holloway University London) and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (Kingston University). My validation panel experience include: chairing validation events; panel membership for validation with overseas provision; panel membership for partnership approvals within higher and further education and with industry partners.
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
I am an interdisciplinary researcher with a Cultural Studies background. I have experience in developing creative and mixed-methods approaches and am particularly interested in collaborative approaches to partnerships and knowledge exchange. Several of these projects/publications are available from the methods and approaches section of the Culture and Creativity Policy Network. I enthusiastically explore approaches to research-informed teaching and create opportunities to engage students as researchers.
I completed my AHRC funded PhD, titled 'The industry of creativity: economic visions, creative subjects and innovative technologies in process', at Lancaster University (2005-08).
From 2008 to 2015 I was a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University (UK) teaching on the Media Communications and the Creative Media Practice degree programmes.
I joined Winchester School of Art as the MA Programme Leader for Global Media Management in April 2015 and held this role until September 2020. I then led development of and was the Programme Leader (2023-24) for the MA in Arts and Cultural Leadership.
I am currently the Impact Lead for Winchester School of Art, a Co-Director of the Work Futures Research Centre and an Associate Director with Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities.
Prizes
- Vice Chancellor’s Awards: Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise (with Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities) (2022)
- Vice Chancellor’s Awards: Teaching Award (as Programme Leader with MA in Global Media Management) (2018)