Dr Rosemary Golding

Professional biography

I joined the Open University as an Associate Lecturer in 2009, and as Staff Tutor in Music in 2010. I studied for a BA and MSt at Merton College, Oxford, and completed my PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London. My research has focussed on the history of music as an academic discipline during the nineteenth century, on the status of music and musicians, particularly through professional institutions and accreditation, and on the relationships between music, health and wellbeing in nineteenth-century Britain. I have recently published a book on music in nineteenth-century English lunatic asylums (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), and a documentary history on music in nineteenth-century Britain (Routledge, 2023). 

I am lead investigator of an AHRC-funded network, Psychiatry and the Arts in Nineteenth-Century Britain, in collaboration with Professor Susan Hogan, the Crichton Trust, and the Bethlem Museum for the Mind. The network organised three symposia and a conference in Milton Keynes/ online. See https://fass.open.ac.uk/research/projects/PAN.

I also convene the Health and the Arts Research Group, which brings researchers together from across the Open University, including central academics, Staff Tutors, research fellows, Associate Lecturers and PhD students. We hold regular lunchtime events and have run sessions on impact and media training, and a conference. See https://fass.open.ac.uk/research/groups/health-and-arts. You can explore some of our work via our OpenLearn collection at https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/creative-arts-health-and-wellbeing.

I post regular updates on my work on my research blog https://musichealthandhappiness.wordpress.com/. 

As Staff Tutor in Music I have oversight of teaching in Arts subjects from our large, interdisciplinary level 1 modules to the MA in Music. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a UKCGE Recognised Research Supervisor.

I am co-chair of the Staff Tutor Liaison Group, which meets six times a year to consider topics of importance to Staff Tutors, Student Experience Managers and Associate Lecturers, as well as communicating with university management about key issues. I have particular interests in staff development and wellbeing. In 2023 I qualified as a mental health first aider.

Outside the university I am co-editor of the journal Nineteenth Century Music Review, an elected member of the Board of the North American British Music Studies Association, and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education and Medical Humanities. I am also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member of the national advisory group for the QAA Subject Benchmark Statement Review for Music.  

I currently work part-time; my usual core working days are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9am-3pm, and Thursday and Friday 9am-6pm.

Research interests

My research covers areas of institutional and cultural history of music in nineteenth-century Britain. I am interested in the way music has been thought about over time, its status in society, and its different identities as an art form and cultural phenomenon. I have published on music education, the music profession, and music in Victorian asylums.

My current research focusses on the historical relationship between music and health. My research blog, which includes information about my recent research, publications, conference organisation and public engagement activity, is available here: https://musichealthandhappiness.wordpress.com/

Selected Publications

For a full list please see the publications tab.

Teaching interests

I have contributed to modules across the Arts and Music curriculum, working on module teams including AA100, A113, A224, AA302, A870, A871, A873, A874, A877 and A890. II recently co-chaired production of the Music MA module, A890 (90 credits), for which I wrote material on the history and nature of musicology, inclusion and exclusion in the archive, music and the Victorian asylum, and nineteenth-century music education, as well as study and writing skills.

As Staff Tutor I manage tuition on a range of modules across the Arts disciplines.

I supervise several PhD students, including topics in music and its social history in nineteenth-century Britain. I would be delighted to hear from potential PhD students interested in any area of music in nineteenth-century Britain, in the social and institutional history of music, in the history of music and health, and in the history of music education.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Recognised Research Supervisor (UKCGE).

Impact and engagement

I maintain a regular research blog at https://musichealthandhappiness.wordpress.com/

With thanks to a grant from the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange I put together an online exhibition showcasing key holdings in the Crichton Royal Institution archives relating to its role in establishing the Arts within psychiatric care: Heritage and The Arts: An Online Exhibition from The OU | The Crichton Trust

My research on the history of the Crichton has been featured in the Dumfries Courier in print and online at https://www.dng24.co.uk/doctor-flags-up-power-of-poetry-and-music/ (January 2024). 

I have published on my work on the history of music and mental health in The Conversation (March 2023) and was interviewed on Three Counties Radio on Sunday 23 April Babs Michel - London Marathon shout-outs - BBC Sounds starting at 3:12:36. I have also worked with composer Victoria Bernath and soprano Ruth Hopkins on creative work inspired by my research.

External collaborations

My current AHRC-funded Network 'Psychiatry and the Arts in Nineteenth-Century Britain' involves collaboration with the Bethlem Museum of the Mind, London and the Crichton, Dumfries. The Network brings together historians, scholars and practitioners in heritage, creative and health sectors to evaluate historical study and envisage new ways of collaboration and engagement. See https://fass.open.ac.uk/research/projects/PAN.

I was also awarded a grant from the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange to develop my collaboration with the Crichton.

I am a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group. 

I am external examiner of the International Foundation Year in Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities at Royal Holloway, University of London. On behalf of The Open University I am an academic reviewer at University College, Peterborough, and Art Academy London. 

International links

I am an elected member of the Board of the North American British Music Studies Association (NABMSA).

In 2023 I chaired the international conference on Music in Nineteenth-Century Britain, which took place in Milton Keynes and online. In 2025 I chaired an international conference on Health, Wellbeing and the Arts in the Nineteenth Century.