She then transitioned to her first academic appointment at the University of Leicester, where she began to focus her research on portraiture and visual culture within European contexts.
Her early scholarly contributions laid the foundation for her ongoing research interests in the relationship between art and social identity.
[3][4][5] During this period, she conducted research that would eventually be published in works such as Fin de Siècle: Art and Society in an Age of Uncertainty, a book that examined the cultural anxieties and artistic innovations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
[1] This work, along with her other publications, explored themes of societal change and the role of the visual arts in shaping cultural narratives.
Her leadership at Sheffield involved significant responsibilities in institutional governance, but she continued to support humanities research through her advisory roles and contributions to scholarly evaluations.
[1] West was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to education.