Mary Ann Kernan

Overview

Mary Ann joined City, University of London in 2006 as Programme Director of the MA in Publishing, and launched the MA in International Publishing in 2011 and the MA Creative Writing and Publishing in 2014. She is a former Director of Methuen & Co Ltd, and was a Deputy Publisher at Routledge well as an e-learning consultant and developer. Before joining City, she taught at Kingston University, the University of Surrey, the Open University and Middlesex University.

Under Mary Ann’s leadership, City’s sector-leading Publishing MAs have attracted endorsements from alumni and the industry as well as top ratings from current students. As recognised by both Technology Champion and Enhancing Student Employability awards at City University London, her innovations have contributed to the programmes’ consistent success in supporting City’s publishing graduates to achieve their career ambitions.

In 2016-17, these pedagogical successes informed the launch of City, University of London's innovative BA English, which combines research excellence in teaching with modules and assignments which encourage our students to graduate with a portfolio of achievements to inform and support their career aspirations. Mary Ann was appointed Associate Dean (Student Experience), School of Arts and Social Science in January 2017, with the aim of ensuring that all of the School's programmes reflect sector-leading practice in employability and student satisfaction.

Mary Ann was also a founding member of the executive board for the University's Centre for Creativity in Professional Practice, which was launched in 2009 and is part of the Cass Business School. She leads the ‘Creativity and the Creative Industries’ module for the interdisciplinary, innovative Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership.

Mary Ann is an active member of the Association of Publishing Education, and represented the Association as a panel member to redefined the National Occupational Standards for Publishing in 2012. She has served as both External Examiner and External Validator for other programmes, and frequently presents at international conferences. She also works as a consultant, both for commercial publishers and as a designer and deliverer of creativity and management initiatives.

Her research has two main strands: publishing history, with a special focus on academic publishing and the impact of digitisation; and pedagogical research focused on the role and impact of experiential and arts-based learning in higher education.

Mary Ann is an active member of the Association of Publishing Education, and was a member of the panel which in 2012 redefined the National Occupational Standards for Publishing. She also works as a consultant, both for commercial publishers and as a designer and deliverer of creativity and management initiatives.

Qualifications

1. MSc Research Methods, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom, Sep 2002 – Jul 2006
2. BA Hons (Modern History), University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oct 1973 – May 1976

Employment

1. Associate Dean (Student Experience), City University London, London, Jan 2017 – Jan 2020
2. Associate Professor, City University London, London, Sep 2016 – present

Teaching

Modules

MA in Publishing
MA in International Publishing
Masters in Innovation, Creativity and Leadership

Mary Ann's research interests include the commercial and technological history of publishing's responses to globalisation and digitisation; the pedagogy of publishing programmes for transferable outcomes and employability; the UK industry's employment practices as a creative industry; and management education and development processes which include creative practices drawn from the arts. In 2012-13 she acted as Principal Investigator for Equip (Equality in Publishing), a £70,000 research project sponsored by Arts Council England, which in 2014 moved to the joint management of the Publishers Association and the Independent Publishers Guild.
Her recent publications include:
Kernan, M.A. (2013) Routledge as a global publisher: a case study 1980–2010, Publishing Research Quarterly; 29(1): 52–72.
Kernan, M.A. (2013) When is a publishing business truly 'global'? An analysis of a Routledge case study with reference to Ohmae's Theory of Globalization, Publishing Research Quarterly; 29(4), 344–64..
Holtham, C, Kernan, MA, Owens, A and Pässilä, A (2013) Accelerating movement across the intentional arc – developing the strategic sensographer, Conference Proceedings, 8th International Conference in Critical Management Studies, University of Manchester (10 July 2013) [Online]. Available: Publications [11 October 2013].

Publications by category