David Jarman
David Jarman

Dr David Jarman SFHEA, FRSA

Lecturer

 0131 455 4399

  D.Jarman@napier.ac.uk

   

Biography

My undergraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh brought me to the city. I combined this with summers spent working at the Edinburgh festivals. Through the early years of the century I built up my festival experience, completed my MSc, and traveled. This provided a great platform on which to develop my academic teaching and research career with Edinburgh Napier, from 2007 on.

My research interests have primarily focused on cultural festivals and the broader festival economy. In recent years this has involved the use of social network analysis, which is a methodology that has seen relatively little application in this field. I completed my PhD in September 2022 with Tilburg University, in The Netherlands. The work was titled "Social network analysis and festival relationships: personal, organisational and strategic connections". My thesis is available to download from the Tilburg University repository, and the Outputs tab on my staff profile page.

I have been a Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University since September 2007, combining this with my role as Programme Leader for the university's BA (Hons) International Festival & Event Management suite of courses. In a teaching capacity I lead modules that are delivered in Edinburgh and overseas, spanning students from all four years of our undergraduate programmes. I also supervise Live Projects and Work Based Learning placement students in a range of industrial sectors, supporting and mentoring them through the process and helping our industry partners to benefit as much as possible. I co-teach an MSc module with Prof. Jane Ali-Knight.

My wider role as Programme Leader includes the monitoring, development and evaluation of the core curriculum presented to the students. I also lead on a number of our connections and project with internal and external stakeholders, to ensure the courses are among the best in the UK.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • EventScotland Grant Awarding Panel: National Events Programme. Invited member of EventScotland, Grant Awarding Panel for its National Events Programme.

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • ATLAS seminar: "Festival Cities and Cultural Tourism". Member of organising committee, panel chair and joint coordinator of online activities.
  • Universities of Scotland Events Conference: member of organising committee, for this annual conference to unite Events Management students from across Scotland's HE and FE sector.
  • Teaching Fellows Conference (2017): membership of organising committee with specific responsibility for online presence and engagement.
  • Teaching Fellows Annual Conference (2016): member of organising committee for Edinburgh Napier's internal conference for the Teaching Fellows community. Specific responsibility for online presence, including on the day social media coordination.
  • Conference organising committee: Ryder Cup 2014 Student Research Symposium
  • Teaching Fellows Conference (2015): member of organising committee and contributor to conference blog.
  • Member of LSA 2014 conference organising committee, hosted by UWS in Paisley.

 

Editorial Activity

  • Co-editor: special issue of Event Management, titled "Events as Platforms, Networks and Communities". Co-editorial role (with Prof. Greg Richards) of a special issue of Event Management journal. The special issue is a product of the 2018 ATLAS conference, held in Copenhagen.
  • Associate Editor of Event Management journal

 

External Examining/Validations

  • External examiner at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands. This external examiner role involved working with final year students, to review their end-of-course presentations and interviews.

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Received Student Event Award from EventIt e-awards as part of team that delivered 2017 USEC student conference.
  • Awarded "Best Use of Technology" for paper delivered to AEME Forum at Cardiff Metropolitan University, for a paper titled "Social network analysis and mixed methods research into a community led cultural festival in Scotland"
  • Referee to colleagues applying for Fellowship of the HEA
  • SFHEA Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, achieved via Edinburgh Napier's ENroute programme
  • FRSA Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

 

Invited Speaker

  • Fringes and networks paper: presentation to CAUTHE conference (Hobart, Australia)
  • SNA introduction talk and Q&A: Jameel Arts & Health Lab (NYU and elsewhere)
  • "The place-making power of festivals and events" – presentation to students at University of Waterloo, Canada
  • Connecting the dots: A decade of research into festivals, networks and communites
  • Events that confound, in a time without events [Conference Paper presented online in September 2021 to ATLAS Conference, discussing the impact of Covid restrictions on event experiences]
  • Invited speaker to British Council / Edinburgh Napier University "Indian Festivals Academy" programme, for a paper titled "Place-making, social networks and festivals"
  • Guest lecture (online) to students at Texas A&M University, for a talk titled "Festivals and Events in Edinburgh"
  • Festival to festival: relationships within the Nordic Fringe Network [Conference paper in Copenhagen, discussing use of "two mode" social network analysis to explore outcomes and advantages of a networked approach to Fringe festival management.]
  • Social network analysis and mixed methods research into a community led cultural festival in Scotland [Conference paper in Cardiff, demonstrating the potential uses of social network analysis as part of a combined methods approach to festival and events research.]
  • My network, without boundaries? Social networks and the individual: ego network research [Conference paper in Liverpool, demonstrating the application of "ego network" analysis in a cultural community setting.]
  • The Strength of Festival Ties [Conference paper in Paisley, outlining current proposals for using social network analysis in festival and events research projects.]
  • Festivals and Social Network Analysis [Conference paper in Bournemouth, outlining current proposals for using social network analysis in festival and events research projects.]
  • Festivals and Social Network Analysis [Conference paper in Belfast, outlining current proposals for using social network analysis in festival and events research projects.]
  • "Events, sponsors, stakeholders and government" [Presentation to students at Breda University, The Netherlands, as part of an Erasmus funded teaching exchange trip.]
  • "Stakeholders, agencies and government" [Presentation to students at Breda University, The Netherlands, as part of an Erasmus funded teaching exchange trip.]
  • "Strategic analysis for organisational development of the Festival City Theatres’ Trust" [Conference paper presented to Global Events Congress, hosted by Leeds Metropolitan University]
  • "Edinburgh: venues, festivals and creative industries" [Presentation to students at Breda University, The Netherlands, as part of an Erasmus funded teaching exchange trip.]

 

Media Activity

  • Interviewed for podcast: "Shot and Chaser". In July 2022 I was interviewed for the Spotify podcast "Shot and Chaser" about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The episode title is "Why is Edinburgh the centre of culture in August?". The conversation covered the history of Edinburgh's festivals, and the role of today's Fringe as a platform for innovation and talent.
  • Interviewed for podcast: "Inside Events". In August 2020 I was interviewed by Dr Mike Duignan for his podcast series "Inside Events". The episode title is "David Jarman on Networked Relationships Between Fringe Festivals". The conversation is based on my research paper for Event Management, titled "Festival to Festival".
  • Interviewed for podcast: "Let's Get Critical". In April 2020 I was interviewed by Kelly McManus of the University of Waterloo (Canada). The title of the podcast episode is "Analysis & Representation in Critical Event Studies: Social Network Analysis".

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member of Tourism Research Centre (TRC) at Edinburgh Napier University

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Teaching Fellows Community: Mentoring Circles coordination and delivery
  • SNA Scotland (SNAS): organising committee membership. SNAS is an academic community, in place to support researchers who use social network analysis methodologies. Our activities include presentations, workshops, informal mentoring, and community building among PhD students, ECR, and established researchers.
  • Member of RSA Scotland organising team, helping to develop and deliver events and programmes of activity
  • Edinburgh based coordination in support of research and study trips by students of Breda University (The Netherlands).

 

Reviewing

  • Journal: Event Management
  • Book review: 'The Edinburgh Festivals' by Angela Bartie, published in The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club
  • Conference: LSA 2014 (hosted by University of West of Scotland)

 

Current Post Grad projects