Central awards its first PhD

Central is happy to announce that it has awarded its first ever doctoral degree.

'This marks Central’s maturity as a fully-rounded higher education institution and a centre of expertise in research into contemporary performance,' says Professor Andrew Lavender, Dean of Research.

Practice-based research has become an important means of developing knowledge and understanding in the performing arts. The graduate, Dr Broderick Chow, carried out his research in performance comedy, culminating in his thesis entitled How to Do Things with Jokes: Relocating the political dimension of performance comedy.

Dr Chow, also an alumnus of Central’s MA Advanced Theatre Practice, works as a stand-up comedian, writer, visual artist and lecturer at the University of East London. His practice-as-research project examined the potential of performance comedy – that is, stand-up, sketch and improvised comedy, as opposed to that which is in narrative plays.

'I am honoured to be Central’s first PhD graduate,' he says. 'Doing a PhD is an incredible but often frustrating and lonely experience. I was incredibly fortunate to have two wonderful supervisors, Professor Lavender and Dr Stephen Farrier, as well as a course convenor (Dr Tony Fisher) who instilled a real sense of collegiality in the programme.

'Today, more than ever, universities must defend themselves as places for research and thinking. When presented with the problems in today’s world, we must have courage and defend our abilities to question and analyse the problems themselves, rather than acting rashly, out of fear or anger. I learned this in my time at Central, and it’s something I want to impart to my students.'

A cohort of 25 PhD students follows Dr Chow; Central looks forward to awarding more doctorates in the future.

'We expect our students to make a healthy contribution to our discipline in the years to come,' says Professor Lavender.

Dr Chow’s work was partially funded by a bursary from the Beatrice Lillie Trust, which supports students studying musical theatre and comedy.

Read more about Dr Broderick Chow’s research in his profile.