Personal statement

Julia Keyte is a Subject Leader in the School of Design, with oversight of the Architecture, Interior Design and Product Design undergraduate courses. She works closely with the programme leaders to create inventive, collaborative and student-centred curriculums. She also has a strategic portfolio role in the School of Design focused on future students and graduate outcomes, covering recruitment, marketing and employability. 

Prior to her current role, Julia was programme leader for BA (Hons) Product Design at Bath Spa University, having previously led and taught on undergraduate and postgraduate jewellery design programmes at Sheffield Hallam University. Through her teaching practice Julia sought to embed design skills and problem solving in project-based, active hands-on learning. She has had external examiner and advisor posts for design and craft courses in higher and further education. 

Julia’s research has elicited rich qualitative insights into industrial designers as cultural hermeneutists and agile, multi-skilled creators. She has published articles on the unobserved emotional power of everyday possessions, and developed participatory exhibitions as a method for data collection. She has been a reviewer for design research conferences and journals. 

Julia’s career started with an immersive craft training in jewellery and silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art. She has an MFA in Product Design from the Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam. 

Academic qualifications

  • PhD, Sheffield Hallam University
  • PG Cert Learning and Teaching, Sheffield Hallam University
  • MFA Product Design, Sandberg Institute, Amsterdam
  • BA (Hons) Silversmithing and Jewellery, Edinburgh College of Art.