Stephen Knott

Stephen Knott is Director of the Crafts Study Centre (CSC), a specialist university museum based on UCA’s Farnham campus. He is a writer, researcher and educator, specialising in modern and contemporary craft history and theory. Trained as a historian at UCL, the focus of his research shifted toward craft, design and material culture during his PhD at the Royal College of Art/Victoria & Albert Museum where he researched amateur craft, supported by an AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award. Drawn further into the breadth, eccentricity, complexity, and global roots of modern craft during a postdoctoral fellowship at the CSC in 2012-13 that focused on craft education, Stephen has shown his commitment to craft studies through his editorship of The Journal of Modern Craft since 2012 and several notable publications. 

Previously, Stephen was Senior Lecturer in Critical and Historical Studies at Kingston University. He has also held teaching roles at Liverpool Hope University, The Royal College of Art, Camberwell College of Arts, and Buckingham University, and has been invited to talk at international events and symposium relating to contemporary craft and craft studies. He has collaborated with various craft-specialist institutions and networks including the UK Crafts Council, Norwegian Crafts, Craft Scotland, the British Council and Art Jewelry Forum.