History focused events tailored to your organisation.
If you would like a full version of Karen’s CV, or wish to work together please get in touch!
Book Reviews
Review of Female Philanthropy in the Interwar World: Between Self and Other by Eve Colpus in Archives: The Journal of the British Records Association, Volume 56.1
Publications
Academic writing:
Mailley-Watt, Karen ‘The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists (1882-1942): a feminist sanctum of opportunity, visibility and community?’ PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, (2021).
‘A school is not a product of any one person or of any one mind’: The Impact of Charles H Scott and other Scottish Artists on the Vancouver School of Applied Art and Design’, The Scottish Society for Art History Journal, Volume 25, (2019-2020).
‘Creating Connections: The Cross-Cultural Influence of the Glasgow Designer Grace Wilson Melvin (1892-1977)’, The Decorative Arts Journal, Volume 43, (2019).
‘Women’s Work Praised: The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists (1882-1938)’, The Scottish Society for Art History Journal, Volume 23, (2018-19).
Other writing:
‘Memory Encapsulated in a Building: Lansdowne Church, Alf Webster, and Memorialisation‘, EPOCH Magazine, September 2025.
‘The Maroon Mile, More than Football: Wikithons, women’s stories and weaving’, blog post Women’s History Scotland, August 2025.
‘A whirlwind history of the Glasgow Athenaeum since its establishment’, blog post for Glasgow City Heritage Trust Gallus Glasgow Project, January 2022.
‘A roomful of radicals? The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists’, blog post for Glasgow City Heritage Trust Gallus Glasgow Project, October 2021.
‘The Marvellous Mary Burton will see you in court’, commissioned online article for Historic Environment Scotland’s Blue Plaque Scheme, co-authored with Dr R. Purse, March 2022.
‘Women And The Scottish Press – The Curious Case Of Jessie M. King(S)’, The Bottle Imp, Issue 28. Scotland in the Papers, co-authored with Charlotte Lauder (2021).
‘Wrapped up in a fairytale: Jessie M.King & the production of wearable Batik designs’, Decorating Dissidence, Wearable Art, Issue 13, (2021).
‘Women, War & The West End’, educational booklet as part of a travelling exhibition, (2018).
‘Fivers, Footnotes and Frivolous Language: Women and Scottish History’, co-authored with Dr R. Purse, The Drouth, (2017).
‘Women and the Scottish past and present – how do we properly pay homage and why?’, co-authored with Dr R. Purse, Bella Caledonia, (2016).
Podcasts: The History Girls Frae Scotland, with Dr R. Purse featured on The Braw & Brave podcast (2019).
Radio: ‘History Hacks’, The Morning Show with Stephen Jardine, BBC Radio Scotland, Friday’s from 10am.
Selected Conference Papers
- ‘Maroon Mile: More than football’, Footycon International Football History Conference, Windsor Park Belfast, (2025).
- ‘Shifting Ground’: The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists and Altering Glasgow’s Exhibition Culture, Exhibiting Craft Session, The Association for Art History Annual Conference, The University of Birmingham, (2021).
- The Impact of Charles H Scott and other Scottish Artists on the Vancouver School of Applied Art and Design, The Scottish Society for Art History, Kelvinhall, Glasgow, (2020).
- No Longer Monopolised by the Sterner Sex: The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists a Suffrage Hub?, Women’s History Network Scotland, The University of Edinburgh, (2019).
- Creating Connections: The Cross-Cultural Influence of the Glasgow Designer Grace Wilson Melvin (1892-1977), Connections Postgraduate Conference, The University of Glasgow, (2018).
- Women’s Work Praised: The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists, The Scottish Society of Art History annual conference held at Glasgow School of Art, (2018).
- Illuminating the War: The Glasgow School of Art & the Rise of the Female Designer, War Through Other Stuff conference, The University of Edinburgh, (2017).
- Women & Scotland’s Stained-Glass Industry: A Family Affair, The Women’s History Network Women’s Material Cultures/ Women’s Material Environments Conference, Leeds Trinity University, (2016).
Selected Invited Public Talks
- ‘Claiming the City: Women, Space and Glasgow’, Doors Open Day Festival, ARC, The University of Glasgow, (2022).
- ‘Pageant, Costumes and Faeries, Oh My! A (brief introduction) to Dorothy Carleton Smyth and Jessie M. King’, invited talk, Historical Pageants and Glasgow Women’s Library, (2021).
- ‘A Short Introduction to Dorothy Carleton Smyth’, A Living Force, invited talk part of the ‘ambi’ programme, The Glasgow School of Art, (2021).
- ‘Wummin’s Work: Exploring Scotland’s Artists, Designers & Architects’, School of Humanities Seminar Series, The University of Strathclyde, (2021).
- ‘Where are the Women?’, as part of The History Girls Frae Scotland, Friday Night Mixer at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, (2019).
- Jessie Newbery, STAR Project, Paisley, (2019).
Research Funding
- Women’s History Scotland Bursary Recipient for the research project ‘Who is Dolly Mitchell? Glasgow Skating Scene, 1880-1915’, £300, (2022).
- Scottish Graduate School of Arts & Humanities ARCS Travel Fund to travel to the London Metropolitan Archive to investigate The National Council of Women of Great Britain collection, £250, (2018).
- Scottish History Endowment (School of Humanities, University of Glasgow) £500, (2018).
- The Scottish Society for Art History Research Grant, £500, (2018).
- Applied Research Collaborative Studentships to undertake PhD study, (2016).
Training
Conserving Scotland’s Stained Glass, CPD, The Engine Shed, September 2025.
Affiliation
Member of the Scottish Society for Art History.
Karen Mailley 