Dr. David Butler

Biography

David Butler is a Senior Lecturer in Drama and Screen Studies at the University of Manchester. He grew up in West Cumbria and studied Human Communication and Drama in Manchester during the mid-1990s. His academic journey included a PhD exploring the representation of jazz in film noir, focusing on ideological concepts of race and gender in music and film. He began his career as a drama practitioner with the West Cumbria Youth Service and has been a faculty member at the University of Manchester since 2001. His research interests encompass film music, film noir, literary adaptations, and non-naturalistic cinema and television. Butler is dedicated to practice-based research and has collaborated with notable composers and musicians, emphasizing sound's integral role in audiovisual work. He currently supervises various students researching topics such as music in site-specific theatre and contemporary science fiction. His ongoing projects include studies on multiculturalism in science fiction television music and commemorating the work of Delia Derbyshire, a significant figure in British electronic music. Butler aims to combine rigorous academic inquiry with practical creativity, fostering an enhanced understanding of historical and critical narratives in contemporary media.

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