Cole is a researcher and curator. He has worked in Scotland, Germany and the US teaching History of Art, Art Theory and Architectural History. He was awarded his PhD in 2018 from Edinburgh College of Art, The University of Edinburgh. His PhD looked at the representations of women in Kurt Schwitters' collages, with particular focus on the women's movements in the first half of the 20th century. He has published, lectured and organised events, symposia and conferences on collage, queer photography, Dada and feminism, as well as reviews of exhibitions and films; and has been invited to chair sessions at Edinburgh Art Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival on queer art, literature, and film. Cole is the President of the Kurt Schwitters Society and sits on the boards of the Alasdair Gray Archive and the Scottish Working Class Network, and is a member of the development committee for Queer Minds Scotland Network.