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School of Society and Environment – Department of Geography and Environmental Science

Vanessa Houlder

Vanessa

Email: v.j.h.houlder@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

PhD title

Soundscapes of Domesticity: Music and Lived Experience in Non-Elite English Homes, 1780-1870

 

Project description 

This research project concerns the role of music in the home lives of ordinary people in late-eighteenth and nineteenth century England. It uses case studies to explore the emotional, cultural and social significance of music-making, including its role in family relationships and everyday domestic routines. The findings of the project, which is a result of a collaboration between QMUL and the Museum of the Home, is intended to contribute to the museum’s redisplay of its eighteenth and earlier nineteenth-century period rooms.

 

Supervisors

Professor Alastair Owens, Department of Geography, QMUL

Dr Matthew Ingleby, School of the Arts, QMUL

Hannah Gardner Seavey, Museum of the Home

 

Funding

AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award

 

Academic background

BA Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge 

MSc Economic History (Research), London School of Economics 

 

Professional background

Journalist for the Financial Times, reporting on a variety of subjects including the environment, technology and taxation, as well as commenting on business as a Lex columnist. Presented at conferences and chaired discussions organised by NGOs, international institutions, universities and the FT. Individual and team awards included Best Feature, Aviva Investors Sustainability Awards 2021, The Society of American Business Editors and Writers Investigative (International) award 2012 and the Overseas Press Club ‘best online investigation’ 2011. Based in London before a 2025 secondment to Tokyo to work as an editor for Nikkei Asia.

Research

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