Kitty Vega

Kitty Vega is a UKRI-funded PhD candidate working under the supervision of Professor Kate Newey as part of the WOMENTHEATRENET project, and Professor Evelyn O'Malley. Her research examines nineteenth-century British women's death, mourning, and widowhood practices as forms of gendered paratheatrical performance. She explores how socially regulated behaviours surrounding grief, fidelity, sacrifice, and memorialisation were constructed, embodied, represented and circulated through evangelical and imperial networks, with particular attention to their movement between Britain and colonial India.

Her work investigates how idealised models of feminine mourning and widowhood were produced, performed, and sustained within Victorian culture, and how these practices shaped and reflected contemporary ideas about gender, domesticity, religion, and empire. By examining mourning as both ritual and performance, she considers the role of women in the transmission, adaptation, and representation of cultural practices across imperial contexts.

This interdisciplinary research project spans performance studies, Victorian studies, gender studies, imperial and colonial histories, art history and visual culture, death and mourning, ritual, material culture, transnationalism, and the cultural politics of representation. She is particularly interested in how mourning practices both reflect and shape cultural identities across global contexts.

In addition to her research and teaching, Kitty has a particular interest in accessibility, inclusion, and student wellbeing, especially in relation to the experiences of disabled and chronically ill students in higher education. Through her advocacy, representative work, and teaching practice, she is committed to helping create inclusive learning environments and ensuring that all students can engage fully with university life and feel supported throughout their studies.

Prior to commencing her PhD, Kitty worked in heritage research and project management. In her most recent role, as Isca Collection Project Officer for South West Heritage Trust, she led the preservation, research, and public engagement of a unique visual record of late-nineteenth and twentieth-century Exeter, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This work strengthened her interests in cultural heritage, visual and material culture, collection interpretation, and public engagement, as well as developing extensive experience in research management and collaborative project delivery.

Kitty holds a First-Class BA (Hons) in Museum and Heritage Studies from the University of Brighton and an MA with Distinction in the History of Design and Material Culture.