Dr Katja Frimberger
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Education
Personal statement
I am currently Senior Lecturer in Education Studies at the Strathclyde Institute of Education in Glasgow, Scotland, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and co-lead of the 'Advanced Pedagogical Theory' Research Group.
My research centres on the philosophy of arts and aesthetic education, exploring how theatre and film shape human formation. Drawing on continental pedagogy, philosophy/theology and aesthetics - I am curious to understand the mimetic artforms' formative nature, purpose and practice.
My most recent publications look at the poetic virtue of film (see here); explore the German concept of education as 'Bildung' (self/formation) through the French film 'Des Hommes Et Des Dieux' (Of Gods and Men) and medieval theologian Meister Eckhart's Bild-based theology (read here); explore philosophers Hans-Georg Gadamer's and Jacques Maritain's understanding of the formative nature of art/film-reception and making (read here); investigate German theatre maker Bertolt Brecht’s philosophising theatre pedagogy of estrangement (read here); and look at Latvian director and actor Asja Lācis' 'porous' educational philosophy in her proletarian children's theatre in post-WWI Russia (read here).
As performer, producer and educator, I regularly participate in film projects in collaboration with non-academic stakeholders in the creative and charity sector. I am currently PI on the ESRC (IAA account) funded impact project (partnered with Glasgow Life; Grosvenor Cinema, filmmaker Simon Bishopp) "Film as Public Public Pedagogy", which delivers film screenings and film education workshops to enhance film production literacy (for young people aged 15-25).
The Science Fiction Short Film "Refuge" was an (acting) collaboration with filmmaker Simon Bishopp. The short was exhibited at Bafta-qualifying film festivals, selected for the BFI's "shorts in support scheme" and can be watched on Alex Proyas (director of The Crow, Dark City, I-Robot, Gods of Egypt) Streaming Platform Vidiverse.
The Sci-Fi feature film "The Silent Messenger" (Dir. Simon Bishopp), in which I collaborated as performer and producer, was nominated for the Heimspiel award at BIFF (Braunschweig International Film Festival, Germany).
Our film-making and digital animation education projects for care-experienced children and young people in Scotland (Little Animation Studio; UAnimate and Scotland Our New Home) received funding through Creative Scotland, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the School for Social Entrepreneurs.
Previously Lecturer in Theatre at Brunel University London, I taught Applied Theatre, Performance Theory & Directing for the BA Theatre.
In my role as Research Associate at the University of Glasgow for the 3-year, Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded, £2 mill. large grant project 'Researching Multilingually at the Borders of the Body, Language, Law & the State', I theorised the role of arts-based research methods in multilingual settings.
I was awarded a fully funded 3-year PhD research scholarship in the area of aesthetic/intercultural education (focus: applied theatre) from the College of Social Sciences/School of Education at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
My PhD project explored international students' lived experiences of 'interculturality' through a performance-based research pedagogy, based on German theatre maker Bertolt Brecht's theatre/actor training theory and practice. I passed my viva voce in May 2013.
Prior to my academic career, I worked as a language (English, German) and drama educator in secondary, adult & community education, in Germany, Venezuela, Ireland and Scotland.
Prize And Awards
- Award-nomination at BIFF International Film Festival in Germany (Heimspiel Section)
- Recipient
- 11/2024
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- Recipient
- 7/2024
- Finalist National Lottery Good Causes Award 2023
- Recipient
- 2023
- Award Nominee Southside Filmmaker Award
- Recipient
- 2018
- London Sc-Fi Film Festival Selection
- Recipient
- 2018
- Selection for "Shorts in Support" Scheme (Film Hub Scotland/BFI Film Audience Network)
- Recipient
- 2018
Qualifications
PhD University of Glasgow in Scotland/UK for a thesis entitled: Towards a Brechtian Research Pedagogy for Intercultural Education: Cultivating Intercultural Spaces of Experiment through Drama.
M.A. Theatre Studies, University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland.
M.Ed. Education, with English & German, Universität Hildesheim in Germany
Teacher Training Qualification (secondary) for German & English in the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany.
Publications
- The Catholic liturgy as pedagogical reality
- Frimberger Katja
- 20th International Network of Philosophers of Education Conference (2026)
- Film's lessons in vision : towards the virtue of an impure artform
- Frimberger Katja Martina
- New Blackfriars Vol 107, pp. 158-178 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.1017/nbf.2026.10134
- Setting the stage : the pedagogy of theatrical forms and the theatricality of pedagogical forms
- Frimberger Katja, Kenklies Karsten
- The Theatricality of Pedagogy Exploring the open and hidden connections between theatre and pedagogy (2026) (2026)
- Staging the outrageous life : Bertolt Brecht’s Verfremdungstheater as practical philosophy of education
- Frimberger Katja
- The Theatricality of Pedagogy An Exploration of the Open and Hidden Connections between Theatre and Pedagogy (2026) (2026)
- The Theatricality of Pedagogy : An Exploration of the Open and Hidden Connections between Theatre and Pedagogy
- Frimberger Katja, Kenklies Karsten
- Paedagogica Paedagogica (2026)
- Formations of sight in Aquinas, film and filmmaking
- Frimberger Katja
- North American Association for Philosophy and Education (2025)
Research Interests
Research Interests:
- Aesthetic and cultural education/philosophy of education
Memberships:
- The Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain (PESGB)
- The International Network of Philosophers of Education (INPE)
- The North American Association for Philosophy of Education (NAAPE/APOE)
- The Scottish Educational Research Association (Theory and Philosophy of Education Network), SERA
Professional Activities
- PESGB Undergraduate Summer School 2026
- Chair
- 15/6/2026
- Learning to see in the age of AI: How film educates us in poetic virtue
- Speaker
- 14/5/2026
- Seeing like a movie: Cultivating the poetic gaze with Thomas Aquinas and the artform of the moving image
- Speaker
- 13/3/2026
- Invited Plenary Talk: Film as Public Pedagogy
- Speaker
- 1/7/2025
- PESGB Postgraduate Summer School 2025
- Organiser
- 23/6/2025
- A Pedagogy of Irritation – Paul Feyerabend on Educational Theory and Practice. A Symposium
- Speaker
- 28/3/2025
Projects
- PESGB Large Grants Scheme
- Frimberger, Katja (Principal Investigator)
- 03-Jan-2026 - 31-Jan-2027
- PESGB Summer School 2025 - 2028
- Lewin, David (Principal Investigator) Frimberger, Katja (Co-investigator) Kenklies, Karsten (Co-investigator) Robertson, Nicola (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
- Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain Summer School
- Lewin, David (Principal Investigator) Frimberger, Katja (Principal Investigator) Kenklies, Karsten (Co-investigator) Robertson, Nicola (Co-investigator)
- The PESGB Summer School offers an opportunity for undergraduate and postgraduate students to learn more about philosophy of education through a range of activities led by philosophers of education in a university campus setting and alternates between the two groups of students. The Undergraduate Summer School (around 40-50 students) normally involves three days of lectures, seminar discussions and social activities around a theme proposed and organised by the hosts. The Postgraduate Summer School (around 12-15 students) normally runs for five days and is typically led by one philosopher in discussion with others around a particular theme. The Summer School is free to attend and the Society funds all meals and accommodation. Participants are responsible for their own travel costs but a limited number of travel bursaries are available for applicants who are able to demonstrate financial need.
- 31-Jan-2024 - 31-Jan-2028
- Film as public pedagogy
- Frimberger, Katja (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2028
- (KE/Research) "UAnimate" Follow-On-Project (Harmeny Education Trust, Showmanmedia)
- Frimberger, Katja (Principal Investigator) Bishopp, Simon (Co-investigator)
- UAnimate created a digital animation education programme of 10 animated learningfilms, in the style of current children's cartoons, with accompanying illustrated PDFworksheets and 15 animation-creation workshop sessions, that supported childrenthrough the process of making their first fully-animated short film. The programmewas tested with partner Harmeny Education Trust.
- 01-Jan-2020 - 06-Jan-2021
- 'Creative Multilingualism: from Practice to Research to Education'
- Frimberger, Katja (Visiting Academic)
- “Creative multilingualism: From practice to research to education”, under the Principal Investigator, Professor George Androulakis, Director of the Greek Language and Multilingualism Laboratory, Department of Primary Education, University of Thessaly, is a project funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation (HFRI) under the Call "1st Call for proposals for research projects for the support of Faculty members and Researchers working in the Greek Universities and Research Centers I participated as an expert for the implementation of the project, according to the tasks described in the project’s proposal.
- 02-Jan-2020 - 09-Jan-2022
Contact
Dr
Katja
Frimberger
Senior Lecturer
Strathclyde Institute of Education
Email: katja.frimberger@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted