Donna Leishman is an Associate Professor in Communication Design at Northumbria University, UK. Prior to this she was Head of Communication Design at The Glasgow School of Art and at Dundee University. She is a digital media practitioner and interdisciplinary researcher. In her career she has explored the intersections of games, digital literature and more recently, what constitutes social participation in audio-visual live performance and extended reality contexts. Donna’s professional and disciplinary background originated in the applied creative industries; Graphic Design, Illustration, Digital Animation and New Media, from which she continues to draw insights on commercial trends and contemporary human behaviour (Without Sin: Freedom and Taboo Within Digital Media, Hastac 2023). Donna’s practice has interrogated non-linearity and online narratives as a form of extended authorship (Front, Borderline). Her recent contribution to the book Live Visuals: History Theory Practice (Routledge) has seen her explore reception and presence in audio visual contexts alongside the relationship of live performance in the contemporary Design sector. Donna’s current research is exploring how XR technologies can be used to foster better social interactions in cultural heritage settings (To Have & To Hold). She regularly offers talks and peer review at conferences / festivals and externally examines at Master’s and PhD level.
Academic History 
2020 –            Associate Professor Communication Design, Northumbria University.  Acting Head of Subject Communication Design (2020-21)
2016 – 2020   Head of Communication Design, Glasgow School of Art. 
Strategic lead for: Honours Degree in Communication Design (Illustration, Photography and Graphic Design). MDes in Communication Design, MDes in Illustration / Photography / Graphic Design, including Singapore campus.
2013 –2015    Programme lead for Communication Design, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD), Dundee University. Strategic overview for Honours degrees in Illustration, Animation and Graphic Design and an MSC in Animation and Visualisation.
2004 – 2013   Course Director BA / BDes (Hons) Illustration, DJCAD, Dundee University
2007 – 2009  Deputy Head, School of Media Arts & Imaging, DJCAD, Dundee University
2000 – 2004    Ph.D., Department of Visual Communication, Glasgow School of Art.
Recent Appointments and Affiliations
2024		ISEA 25 International Program Committee Member
2024		AHRC Off-College Specialist Peer Reviewer (Catalyst)
2023		Design Council x Northumbria Design, Design For The Planet (Illustration Sprint)
2023		Peer reviewer HASTAC 2023 “Critical Making and Social Justice” conference.
2023 	        “Recovery heritage: materialising hope and care by practising co-design,” Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. Dr Violeta TSENOVA.
2022	External Advisor, BA (Hons) Graphic Communication, Central St Martins.
2021-2022	Committee Participatory Design Conference 2022. Co-Chair Situated Actions.
2021-2022	Co-Editor, Live Visuals: History Theory Practice (Routledge).
2018	External panelist for London College of Communication School of Design. 
2018-2021	International Design Competition expert judge for The Novosibirsk State University of Architecture, Design and Arts (NSUADA), Russia.
2014-2017	External Examiner, Royal College of Art, MA Communication Design.
2012 – 2016	External Examiner, University of Brighton BA/MA (Hons) Illustration
2012 – 2016 	Peer reviewer for the journal VaroomLab
2011 – 2015	External Examiner, Falmouth University, MA Illustration: Authorial Practice
2010-12	External Examiner, Newcastle University MRES in Digital Media
Published Work
Leishman, D.  (2024) “Illustration as Social Semiotics” in Confia 2024: 11th International Conference on Illustration & Animation. Barcelos, Portugal. Published in proceedings p. 167-176 9 p.
Leishman, D.  (2022 Summer) "Presence in Live Visuals Performance" and “Design and Live Visuals,” book chapters in Live Visuals: History Theory Practice (Routledge).
 Leishman, D.  (May 2021) Self-published visual essays: “Charlotte Lucy,” “Hobby’s Well,” “Impossible Stairs” via commission online portal https://tohavetohold.uk/takeaways
Leishman, D.  (Fall 2018) “More Eyes, Different Eyes” Paper in the Journal of Illustration, 5 (2). pp. 191-205. ISSN 2052-0212
Leishman, D.  (2018) “The Fairy Tale about the Wise Man.” In: Fairy Tales and Fables from Weimar Days, Collected Utopian Tales / New and Revised Edition. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 91-101. ISBN 978-3-319-69274-6
Leishman, D.  (2018) “A Living Room For The City” invited contributor for the celebratory publication for V&A Dundee, design by APFEL published by V&A Dundee. Editor Sophie McKinlay. ISBN 9781851779239
Leishman, D. (2017) Two colour, 10 page Riso booklet based on a deconstruction of Red Riding Hood (digital literature artwork) for Electronic Literature Organisation 2017, Porto.
Leishman, D., (2016) Invited contributor to The Drouth, Comix Editon "Strip" Front cover, two interior speads and new position paper "Extinguish My Eyes And I See You Still" (1716 words)
 Leishman, D. (2015). “In Electronic Literature Communities”  (ed.) Sandy Baldwin, Patricia Tomaszek, Scott Rettberg, Computing Literature imprint / West Virginia University Press. Word Count: 5,274, 
 Leishman, D. (2013).”Without Sin” Leonardo Electronic Almanac, Without Sin: Freedom and Taboo Within Digital Media, Number 4, Vol 19, September 2013, Word Count: 3464, 
ISSN 1071-4391
ISBN 978-1-906897-26-0
Leishman, D. (2013).”Precarious Design” Leonardo Electronic Almanac, Without Sin: Freedom and Taboo Within Digital Media, Number 4 Vol 19, September 2013, Word Count: 4197, 
ISSN 1071-4391
ISBN 978-1-906897-26-0
Leishman, D. (2012).”The Flash Community: Implications for Post-Conceptualism” Dichtung Digital, Digital Communities Special, Number 4 Vol 19, March 2012. Nr 41 (2012) Edition, Word Count: 5,274,  
ISSN 1071-4391
ISBN 978-1-906897-26-0 
Leishman, D., (2010) “To Flummox”, The Ludic Society. Word Count: 1,174, Invited contribution – currently un-published http://www.ludic-society.net 
Leishman, D., (2010) “Will Internet narrative art ever grow up?” In Cross-Media Communications: an Introduction to the Creation of Integrated Media Experiences (ed.) Dr. Drew Davidson, ETC press imprint/Carnegie Mellon University, p87-90 ISBN 978-0-557-28565-5
Leishman, D. (2009).”Dissonance in Multi-Semiotic Landscapes in the Work Of Donna Leishman” Hyperrhiz: New Media Cultures, Summer 2009, Issue No 6, Word Count: 3,913, ISBN: 1555-9351. 
Leishman, D., (May 2004) “Visual Literacy and Learning: Finding some online territories for the slow learner”, Special Issue on Games - Simulations and Interactive Media in Learning Contexts, On the Horizon (International Journal)., Word Count: ISSN: 1074-8121
Refereed Conference Contributions
2019. “Perceptual Fail: Female Power, Mobile Technologies and Images of Self.” ELO 2019, University of Cork. 
2018. Cautionary Tale: Stories Made and Distributed through the Internet. Materialities of Literature, 6 (3). pp. 105-114. ISSN 2182-8830
2017. Delivered paper/presentation “Narcissist Reconfigured” for Illustrating Identity/ies Conference.
2017. Delivered paper/presentation for Electronic Literature Organization 2017: Affiliations, Translations, Communities as part of the panel: Forms of Translation:  Experimental Texts Rewritten as Migrations to Digital Media. Presentation and paper titled “Cautionary tale: stories made and distributed through the Internet”. 
2015. Delivered paper/presentation “The Challenge of Visuality for Electronic Literature” for Electronic Literature Organization 2015, Bergen.
2012.”Out of Place: Digital In-Grouping” Remediating The Social, November 2012 ELMCIP at the University of Edinburgh. Pp. 129-133. Word Count: 4275, ISBN-10: 8299908906
2012. ”Precarious Flux” ISEA 2011, Conference Proceedings, Word Count: 2,953 
2011.”Fluxing Reality” The User in Flux Workshop In: Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 
2005. “What is Interactivity?” for Flash In The Can: Design and Technology Festival, Toronto Canada. Word count: 3,032.  The festival requested that all speakers self publish. 
2003. By competition. Peer Reviewed. 1 of 25 international exhibitors. Single screen based interactive projection of “The Bloody Chamber” in “PlayEngines: streaming worlds”. Curator - Adrian Miles, RMIT University. Digital Arts & Culture conference 2003, Melbourne, Australia. 
2002. 1 of 10 international exhibitors, Single screen based interactive project “Red Riding Hood” at the “TechnoPoetry” Festival - Georgia Tech, USA. 
2001. Presentation, “Touching Red Riding Hood” Hypertext, Narrative, Flash, Time, conference Boston MA, USA  
Evidence of Impact/Citations of work/research
2021. Yefymenko, Victoria. “Mediation and Multimodal Meaning Making in Digital Environments” in Mediation and Multimodal Meaning Making in Digital Environments, ed.  Moschini, Sindoni. Routledge.
2019. “The Metamorphoses Of Front As A Narrative Told Through Social Media Interface: A Conversation With Donna Leishman” which is published in full in the book Digital Imaginary the Emerging Shapes of Literary, Cinematic, and Database Art, Ed. Robert Coover, Bloomsbury (Nov 2019)
2018. Zipes, Jack. ed. Fairy Tales and Fables from Weimar Days: Collected Utopian Tales. Published by Palgrave.
2014. Cornis-Pope, M., ed. New Literary Hybrids in the Age of Multimedia Expression: Crossing borders. Published by John Benjamin. p37
2012. Smith, J., Theorizing Digital Narrative: Beginnings, Endings, and Authorship. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). Doctoral Dissertation, VCU University Archives
2012. Memmott. T., Digital Rhetoric and Poetics: Signifying Strategies in Electronic Literature. Malmö University Doctoral Dissertation. ISBN 978-91-7104-419-8
2011, Mahood, A., “Born Digital and Digital Generation, Media: Culture: Pedagogy,” online journal published by Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia.
2008. Hayles, N. Katherine. “Electronic Literature: New Horizons for the Literary”. Notre Dame Press, ISBN 10: 0-268-03085-5 
2007, TIRWEB Vol 9. No1 “Multimodal writing”. Online publication specialising in electronic literature and experimental writing. 
2006. Strickland, S., “Writing the Virtual: Eleven Dimensions of E-Poetry” “New Media Poetry and Poetics" Special Issue, Leonardo Electronic Almanac Vol 14
2006, Stewart, G., “A Homecoming Festival: The Application of the Dialogic Concepts of Addressivity and the Awareness of Participation to an Aesthetic of Computer-mediated Textual Art” Doctoral Thesis University of Bedfordshire.
2005, Hunter, L., “No reason not to link: An interview with Mark Bernstein” Information Design Journal, Volume 13, Number 3, 2005, pp. 229-237(9) Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
2005, “Textual Play: Women's Work in Literary Hypermedia,” presented by Stephanie Strickland, Cynthia Lawson and Margie Luesebrink, Society for Literature & Science Annual Meeting, Duke University, NC, USA. 
2005. Rashed, A., “Teachers’ Perceptions of Underachievement in Elementary Schools in Kuwait “ Al-Sahel School Psychology International, Vol. 26, No. 4, 478-493 SAGE Publications DOI: 10.1177/0143034305059027. 
2005, Keep, D.,”Narratives in Miniature: Aesthetics for Mobiles” [online]. In: Vital Signs: Creative Practice & New Media Now; Melbourne: RMIT Publishing ISBN: 1921166118
August 2005, http://www.flashgoddess.com/html/spotDLeishman.html
2002, Sellen, M., “Information Literacy in the General Education: A New Requirement for the 21st Century” 
The Journal of General Education - Volume 51, Number 2, 2, pp. 115-126
2001, Simanowski, R., “Who eats whom? Donna Leishman's "Redridinghood" “[German] Dichtung Digital
2001 March 5th, Mirapaul. M., “Beyond Hypertext: Novels With Interactive Animation”, The New York Times