Research & Knowledge Exchange Environment
Research in the Faculty of Arts is vibrant, dynamic and ambitious, covering a wide range of forms and genres, disciplines and practices.
The Faculty is engaged in research and knowledge exchange activities grounded in programmes and subjects of study, with the aim of extending the interface between research, learning and teaching, creative practice, and knowledge exchange. It has developed partnerships with key external stakeholders, including the Arts Council, local authorities and regional government, enhancing its creative offering in the South East of England. At the same time staff engage with cultural debate and their professional communities of practice at national and international levels.
The Faculty holds regular research seminars, symposia and events for staff and students. Visiting academics, artists, performers and writers, as well as honorary research fellows, contribute to a stimulating, interdisciplinary research environment. Major international conferences, such as Cinema and the Visual Arts, are organised. Faculty staff also undertake consultancy in a variety of areas.
News
The Faculty of Arts welcomes Leverhulme Trust-funded Visiting Research Fellow Dr Norbert Schürer from California State University Long Beach, who will be spending a year in Winchester.
Dr Schürer joins the Faculty of Arts to work on a project investigating the regional print culture of the eighteenth century in Hampshire, with a particularly focus on Winchester book trades. He will be working alongside Professor Chris Mounsey and Dr Debbie Welham from the Department of English, Creative Writing and American Studies, who hope to combines the research skills and interests in the department with Dr Schürer’s expertise in book history.
Research Success
The Faculty gained excellent results in RAE 2008, in the areas of Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, and Drama, Dance and Performing Arts. In both Units of Assessment, 85% of work submitted was of internationally-recognised quality, with 5% of world-leading quality. Research projects have also been awarded funding from a variety of sources, including:
- the Arts and Humanities Research Council
- British Academy
- European Union
- Arts Council
- Hampshire County Council
- Heritage Lottery Fund
- Businesses
- Charities.
In the past year Faculty members have:
- published 146 books and articles
- given 77 public performances
- 125 conference presentations in the UK and overseas
- been involved in 27 community projects with UK partner organisations.
Overseas community projects have taken place in Normandy, Paris, St Petersburg, Durban, Nairobi, Malta, Singapore, New Delhi, Poland and for the European League of Institutes of the Arts.
The Faculty has:
- 13 editorships of academic journals
- 21 memberships of editorial boards
- 22 members of staff work as reviewers to journals and grant awarding bodies.
Research Centres
There are 3 Research Centres based in the Faculty:
- Arts as Wellbeing
- Communication, Culture and Media Studies
- Language
There is also an inter-institutional research group, RED (formerly the Centre for Research into Expanded Dramaturgies). Centres and research groups organise seminar series, symposia and other events: for example, a series on the Architectonics of Performance, an international conference on Community Arts, and a symposium on the cultural imaginaries of capital.
Research Students
The Faculty of Arts has around 45 research students supervised by staff with expertise in:
- American studies
- Contemporary performance
- Creative and critical writing
- Cultural studies
- English literature
- Film, media and popular culture
- Language and culture
- Performance practice
- Popular theatre.
All full-time and part-time students have access to workstations in the University’s Research and Knowledge Exchange Centre. In addition, the Faculty has its own Centre for Research Students, and offers a programme of research seminars, `open lab’ discussion of research projects, and development sessions.