Jonathan joined the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries (CMCI) in 2015, following posts at the universities of Leeds and Sheffield. Drawing on his interdisciplinary background in cultural studies, audience studies, and the history of political thought – his work addresses questions of cultural policy, cultural participation, and cultural politics.

In projects supported by funders including the AHRC and Horizon 2020, he has conducted research in collaboration with policy makers, cultural organisations, and communities across the UK and internationally. These include Developing Inclusive & Sustainable Creative Economies (Horizon 2020) and Future Festivals South Africa: Possibilities for the Age of COVID-19 (AHRC). His projects also include an oral history of the UK government’s internationally influential Creative Industries Mapping Document. He is currently writing a book on how art and culture enable hope – and contest what can be hoped for – in times of crisis.

Jonathan is Department Education Lead, and was previously Programme Director for the MA Arts & Cultural Management. His activities as a teacher and as a researcher – including his work on hope – are closely interconnected. He supports students to engage critically and creatively with culture, media, and creative industries as they are – and as they could be.

Research Interests and PhD Supervision

• Cultural policy
• Cultural participation
• Culture & hope
• Culture & crisis
• Culture & care

Jonathan’s work has been published in a wide range of reports, edited collections, and journals including Arts and the Market, Cultural Trends, European Journal of Cultural Studies, International Journal of Cultural Policy, and Participations. He has also co-edited a special issue of Futures. For further details, please see his full research profile.

Jonathan welcomes PhD applications connected to his areas of research.

Teaching

Jonathan teaches on a wide range of modules within the department’s BA and MA programmes. He has taught previously at the University of Sheffield, the University of Leeds, and Birkbeck, University of London. From 2019-23 he was an external examiner at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. 

Expertise and Public Engagement

Jonathan is a regular contributor to discussions beyond academia. He has shared his research with cultural practitioners and policy makers internationally and across the UK, including at events held at Barbican Centre, CBSO Centre Birmingham, Cheltenham Music Festival, Museum of London, and West Yorkshire Playhouse – and via articles for outlets such as Arts Professional. He has organised many events bringing together researchers and participants beyond academia – addressing topics including cultural democracy, cultural ecosystems, and ‘politics of doom, politics of hope’. He was a member of the organising committee for the 2019 conference of the Human Development and Capability Association, held in the UK for the first time.

Selected publications

• Gross, J. and Wilson, N. (2020) ‘The Green New Deal and Cultural Policy’. In Oakley, K. and Banks, M. (Eds.) Cultural Industries and the Environmental Crisis: New Approaches for Policy. New York: Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-49384-4_11
• Gross, J. (2020) ‘Holding Together Loss and Hope: Reflections on the Need for Art in Times of Crisis’. Journal of Psychosocial Studies. Vol 13 (2), pp. 209-217. https://doi.org/10.1332/147867320X15894731588869
• Gross, J. (2020) The Birth of the Creative Industries Revisited: An Oral History of the 1998 DCMS Mapping Document. London: King’s College London. doi.org/10.18742/pub01-017
• Gross, J. (2019) ‘Practices of Hope: Care, Narrative and Cultural Democracy’. International Journal of Cultural Policy. DOI: 10.1080/10286632.2019.1702032
• Gross, J. and Wilson, N. (2018) ‘Cultural Democracy: an Ecological and Capabilities Approach’. International Journal of Cultural Policy. 26:3, 328-343, DOI: 10.1080/10286632.2018.1538363