Developing research capacity and expertise in accordance with UCS strategies is a central part of the vision of the School of Arts and Humanities. Recent recruitment strategies employed at School level have focussed on developing innovative curriculum informed by current research agendas and the employment of highly-qualified research active staff with a track-record of publication and of successfully targeting funding opportunities. This ensures that the School has a vibrant research environment that is closely linked to its teaching and learning.
Current research activity
The School of Arts and Humanities has a number of research areas in which there is exciting and vibrant activity, and a desire to develop specialism and expertise with the support of high-quality appointments to visiting professor posts.
Dance Research profiles include national and international recognition for specific specialisms. Areas include a focus on the relationship between body, space and digital technologies; and performativity, documentation and management. In both cases, these areas are closely linked to pedagogical research and development, and are supported by a National Teaching Fellowship attained by the lead researcher. Other areas include the construction and identity of performance; and dance and healthy ageing, to be further developed in collaboration with a research team in the School of Science, Technology and Health. In addition, the School has recently appointed Professor Alexandra Carter (Visiting Professor) who has an extensive research background including: the application of gender perspectives to dance analysis and dance history; developments in dance history pedagogy and historiography; and invisible histories of modern dance in Britain.
English Several members of staff in the School have national and international research profiles in this field. Work includes presentations and publications on the work of Virginia Woolf; Bertolt Brecht; Robert Louis Stevenson; a focus on Digital Textuality, including digital literacies, communicating online and digital fiction; and research into the creative processes associated with poetry and teaching. Research in English and literature is supported by the appointment of Professor Blake Morrison (visiting professor). Prof Morrison is an ex-literary editor of both the Independent on Sunday and Observer and has published widely in both academic and creative settings.
History The School has a number of members of staff actively engaged in research and publication in Modern History ranging from gender perspectives and specific cultural movements; maritime history with a particular focus on the European exploration of the northwest coast of North America; rural and environmental history, with a particular emphasis on crime and protest in 19th Century British rural society; and research on the British armaments industry in the inter-war years. The history team’s research work will be further extended by the appointment of Professor John K Walton (visiting professor) whose research interests focus on international and comparative social history, particularly in seaside resorts and tourism, sport and regional identity.
Visual Arts Research in the visual arts at UCS covers a broad range of topics and, as in dance, frequently explores the intersection of theory and practice. Areas of research include work that looks at the meaning of place and representation of identity; explorations of visual history and theory; research into architectural theory and practice, particularly focussing on the intersection of architecture and culture; and work that investigates how the artist’s own positioning is understood in relation to others. Practice as research is recognised as a significant mode of enquiry in the arts. National and international research outputs include fine art, photography and illustration exhibitions and installations, film screenings, and digital animations.
The growth of the research base in the visual arts is supported by the appointment of two Visiting Senior Fellows: Lord Cunliffe and Eamonn McCabe. Roger Cunliffe has worked as an architect, city planner, project manager and management consultant, has considerable experience in professional education, and has extensive international connections. Eamonn McCabe is a distinguished photographer with experience in sports photography, photojournalism and as a picture editor. He is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society.
The UCS Arts Intervention
The School of Arts and Humanities, in partnership with IBS and ACE, has facilitated the making of a significant piece of public art due to be unveiled in late September 2011. The commissioning of such high quality work by international artists, Langlands and Bell, is indicative of the School's commitment to prioritising aspirational practice and research.
Enterprise opportunities
Staff in the School are currently engaged in a range of enterprise activities that build on research and scholarship activities. This includes a very successful lecture series running each week and attracting academic and professional speakers across the full range of subjects offered within the School. The School is also working with Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council and Arts Council England to provide incubation and pre-start up facilities for students, graduates of the School and local practitioners. Postgraduate research students will be encouraged to become involved in enterprise activity within the School.
Collaboration
The School has also developed formal relationships with a number of senior representatives of stakeholder communities from the private, public and social enterprise/not-for-profit sectors in order to facilitate contributions from specialists from outside academe. These contributions are to develop potential economic support for research activity, the provision of further additional expertise and the identification of research opportunities.
A selection of current partnerships are indicated below:
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Ipswich Maritime Trust – Use of QR codes in delivering a public history project
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Higher Education Academy – National Teaching Fellowship
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Open University – EdD supervision
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Scouloudi Historical Award – British armaments industry in the inter-war years