PhD in Music (Composition), University of York
PGDip in Arts Learning and Teaching in Higher Education with Distinction, NSCD/University of Kent
Master of Music (Composition) with Merit, Kings College, University of London
Bachelor of Music (Honours) 1st Class, University of Glasgow
Additional qualifications
Role and responsibilities:
James is responsible for the effective delivery and ongoing development of the postgraduate programmes at NSCD. As part of the management team, he works closely across all NSCD departments to help students and staff thrive in the NSCD environment. James oversees the timetabling provision, alongside chairing the Learning, Teaching & Quality Assurance Committee and the Academic & Estates Resources Committee. He also teaches in the areas of film, music, creative and contextual work.
“I am someone that is drawn to all the possibilities of what ‘the arts’ can be – whether that is in traditional forms, or patterns, games and experiences. For me art offers me a unique lens for seeing the world, trying to make sense of its complexities, and discovering its beauty.
“I am someone that is always questioning, trying to unpick the paradoxes and intricacies that dominate the world around us by investigating the edges and classifications that we put on things, when are they helpful, and when they obscure other meanings. Above all, I aim to value everyone as individuals, enjoying the differences that make us unique.”
James has worked within higher education for 17 years, with 12 years of management experience in the roles of Contextual Studies Co-ordinator, Head of Creative and Contextual Studies and Head of Postgraduate Studies. In addition to his PhD, James has recently formalised his teaching experience with a fellowship of Advance HE and a Postgraduate diploma in Arts Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. James is currently chair of the Learning, Teaching & Quality Assurance Committee, the Joint Faculty Team, and the Academic Estates and Resources sub-committee at NSCD. James’ pedagogic approaches are based on a student-centred approach. James’s pedagogical practice is inextricably intertwined with the principles of equity, equality, diversity and inclusion, including developing, embedding and monitoring the integration of Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) into academic operation. He feeds into the EEDI committee, including leading on recent work undertaken around decolonising the curriculum, and the creation of the current Action Strategy 2024-2030. He has also led on a number of EEDI initiatives, including instigating the opening up of learner support to all students regardless of medical diagnosis, and introducing the use of a ‘menu’ of assessment items within an inclusive assessment strategy. James has also overseen a number of areas of curriculum design including the validation of the MA Dance and Creative Enterprise, MA Interdisciplinary Dance Performance and the revalidation of the MA Contemporary Dance Performance programmes. James has played a key role in shaping the structure of the Higher Education provision at NSCD, including coordinating the move to a fixed 11-week term. James has fed externally into programme development and periodic programme review at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and programme validation processes at London Contemporary Dance School.
James is particularly interested in how arts practice sits within traditional higher education frameworks, including the juxtaposition of art and research as examined in his 2023 paper: The intersections of art and research. The Performing Arts: Practice, Education and Research Journal (PA:PER) Issue 02, DOI: 10.29877/PA_PER
James has served as a panel member for periodic programme review for the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (Validated by UEA).
James is a composer, filmmaker and lecturer. He studied music at the University of Glasgow and King’s College London, before completing a PhD in composition at the University of York with Nicola LeFanu.
James has been involved in contemporary dance since 2005, specialising in its relationships to other art practices both in creative and theoretical fields. Alongside his teaching at NSCD he works as a TV producer primarily for BBC broadcast, including the BAFTA Scotland winning programme The Great Climb and the Scottish Adventure Award-winning series The Adventure Show currently in its 18th series.
He is active as a freelance composer including recent performances by the BBC Philharmonic (as part of their Red Brick Sessions), Cuatro Puntos, Delta Saxophone Quartet, Ligeti String Quartet, Jeremy Huw Williams and Ian Pace. James has had his music performed across the UK and Ireland, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and he also regularly composes television music for BBC Scotland. For more information, visit: www.jameselse.co.uk
