Penelope Anne "Penny" Sparke (born 6 November 1948) is a British writer and academic specialising in the

history of design Design history is the study of objects of design in their historical and stylistic contexts. With a broad definition, the contexts of design history include the social, the cultural, the economic, the political, the technical and the aesthetic. D ...

. She has been

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Design History at

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

, London, since 1999, where she is also Director of the Modern Interiors Research Centre.

Early life and education

Sparke was born on 6 November 1948 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England.'SPARKE, Prof. Penelope Anne', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 6 Nov 2017
/ref> She studied French Literature at Sussex University between 1967 and 1971, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree. She remained at Sussex to undertake a

Postgraduate Certificate in Education The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In ...

(PGCE), which she completed in 1972. She undertook

postgraduate research Postgraduate research represents a formal area of study that is recognized by a university or institute of higher learning. By definition, the notion of “postgraduate” (United States) carries the implication that the candidate undertaking such ...

Brighton Polytechnic The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

, and completed her

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in

Design History Design history is the study of objects of design in their historical and stylistic contexts. With a broad definition, the contexts of design history include the social, the cultural, the economic, the political, the technical and the aesthetic. D ...

in 1975. Her

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled ''Theory and design in the age of pop''. Sparke was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Ins ...

in 2016.

Academic career

From 1975 to 1982, Sparke was a lecturer in

design history Design history is the study of objects of design in their historical and stylistic contexts. With a broad definition, the contexts of design history include the social, the cultural, the economic, the political, the technical and the aesthetic. D ...

at Brighton Polytechnic (now the

University of Brighton The University of Brighton is a public university based on four campuses in Brighton and Eastbourne on the south coast of England. Its roots can be traced back to 1858 when the Brighton School of Art was opened in the Royal Pavilion. It achiev ...

). She was then a lecturer in design history at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...

in London between 1982 and 1999.Kingston University: Biography
/ref> In 1999, she joined

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

, London, where she had been appointed

of Design History. She additionally served as

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of its Faculty of Art, Design and Music from 1999 to 2005, and as Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) from 2005 to 2014. Sparke has written 15 books about Twentieth-Century Design. She has also curated a number of exhibitions, including ''The Plastics Age'' at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in 1990. Her areas of specialism include design history, history of the modern interior, and design and gender. In 2010, Sparke’s book ''The Genius of Design'' was published to accompany a 5-part BBC Two television series under the same title which was broadcast in 2009.

Other work

In 2007, Sparke, worked as a consultant for

Pyrex Pyrex (trademarked as ''PYREX'' and ''pyrex'') is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915 for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded to include kitchenwa ...

helping with the communication project for their new cookware range designed by George Sowden. She was previously the Course Director of the V&A Museum/Royal College of Art Postgraduate History of Design Programme. Sparke is Chair of the Editorial Board for the ''Journal of Design History'', published by the

Design History Society The Design History Society is an arts history organisation founded in 1977 to promote and support the study and understanding of design history. The Society undertakes a range of charitable activities intended to encourage and support research and ...

Selected works

* 1982 ''Ettore Sottsass Jnr.'' Design Council * 1983 ''Consultant Design: The History and Practice of the Designer in Industry'', Pembridge Press * 1986 ''An Introduction to Design and Culture in the 20th Century'', Allen and Unwin, * 1986 ''Modern Furniture'', Bell and Hyman * 1986 ''Japanese Design'', Michael Joseph * 1987 ''Electrical Appliances'', Bell and Hyman, * 1987 ''Design in Context'', Bloomsbury, * 1988 ''Italian Design, from 1870 to the present'', Thames and Hudson * 1995 ''As Long As It’s Pink: The Sexual Politics of Taste'', Pandora * 1998 ''A Century of Design: Design Pioneers of the Twentieth-Century'', Mitchell Beazley, * 2001 ''Design Directory: Great Britain'', Howard * 2002 ''A Century of Car Design'', Mitchell Beazley, * 2004 ''An Introduction to Design and Culture: 1900 to the present'', Routledge, * 2005 ''Elsie de Wolfe: The Birth of Modern Interior Decoration'', Acanthus Press, * 2008 ''The Modern Interior'', Reaktion Books, * 2010 ''The Genius of Design'', Quadrille Publishing Ltd,

External links

Full list of publications and academic articles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparke, Penny 1948 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex Academics of the University of Brighton English art historians English women non-fiction writers Alumni of the University of Brighton Women art historians British women historians