Punk Scholars Network website

Since its inception in 2012, the Punk Scholars Network PSN) has expanded its membership and activities through conferences, symposiums, publications, talks and exhibitions; whilst seeking to maintain its original aim as an international forum for scholarly debate. The Punk Scholars Network has also held a long-standing commitment towards the nurturing of research, not only in terms of post-doctoral output, but also through pedagogical and academic support for postgraduate and undergraduate research students whilst encouraging and supporting non-academics to pursue and develop their interests in punk scholarship. From its rather humble beginnings, therefore, the Punk Scholars Network has transformed into an international forum for academic and scholarly debate, conferences, publications, talks and public exhibitions. Punk is a conflicting and diverse culture, and the Punk Scholars Network aims to mirror this multiplicity through a genuinely interdisciplinary approach to our subject and the contribution and participation of punk scholars, fans and enthusiasts within and outside traditional models of academia. To date, the Punk Scholars Network has delivered workshops, symposiums and conferences in Reading, Oxford, Leicester, London, Birmingham, Northampton, Bolton, Los Angeles, Lincoln, Newcastle and two global online conferences involving local branches across three continents in 2020 and 2021. These events have reflected a broad range of critical themes including global, historical and contemporary punk scenes, punk pedagogy, DIY, punk and spirituality, identities and sexualities, punk art and aesthetics, curatorial practices and the social and political legacy of the 1980s anarcho-punk movement. While the Punk Scholars Network is visible on social media – the PSN Facebook group comprises around 1,500 members and our activities are regularly promoted via Twitter, Instagram and other digital channels – the website has allowed for the development of a coherent web presence and archive for work produced under the PSN name. A funding bid in 2020, secured via Dr Russ Bestley at the London College of Communications allowed for a budget to contract a freelance website designer –Steve Hogg at Cosmic Egg Productions – to work with the PSN Website Steering Group (and, in particular Russ Bestley as PSN identity designer) in order to construct a website, digital repository and blog/message board for the Punk Scholars Network. The website has had a major impact on the online presence of the Punk Scholars Network, enabling a far wider reach for PSN projects, publications and events. It has also developed in tandem as an online archive/repository for graphic and written material relating to PSN events between 2012 and 2019, with capacity to add further material going forward