Goldsmiths researchers on a mission to engage

Over £5,000 has been awarded to ten Goldsmiths, University of London researchers to take their work to venues across the UK and beyond.

Each year, Goldsmiths’ Public Engagement Advisory Group (PEAG) invites academics at all career stages to make proposals for up to £1,000 of internal seed funding to support public engagement activities in the year ahead.

This year the Group received 27 applications from 11 Departments for activities which will bring researchers and people from all kinds of backgrounds together to explore some of the most pressing issues of our time.

Working in partnership with organisations like the BFI, NHS, and Amnesty International, academics from PhD to professor are collaborating with the public to share ideas, exchange skills and shape policy and professional practice.

Get a taste of the supported projects and what’s to come in 2018/19 below:

Dr Naomi Thompson and David Woodger are organising two workshops bringing Gypsy Roma Traveller communities together with the police and social care practitioners to develop mutual understanding and new ways to positively engage. The intention is for the evaluation of the sessions to lead to a publication and wider opportunities to share practice among social care professionals.

Building on her BFI commissioned film, Queerama, covering a century of LGBTQI rights and desires, Daisy Asquith is organising pilot discussions and filming sessions to help queer people tell their stories. Participants will gain hands-on filmmaking skills and the intention is for the format to be rolled out internationally, particularly to countries where the human rights of homosexuals are under threat.

Vanessa Hughes intends to bring her research to the Houses of Parliament with a performance and exhibition devised in collaboration with young activist migrants. In the context of the Government’s immigration policies, MPs and policy makers will be invited to engage with the difficulties faced by young people negotiating the immigration system.

In collaboration with Belgian artist-run space Constant, Helen Pritchard is organising a week-long collaborative research project in Finsbury Park exploring how animals engage with technology. Using DIY and punk approaches, Animal Hacktivism will help visitors see the park in new ways.

Dr Kat Jungnickel is to work collaboratively with award-winning animator Ceiren Bell, to create a series of animated shorts telling the stories of Victorian women inventors and their revolutionary convertible cycle wear. The animations will be shared through new Wikipedia pages, cycling festivals and the Open University.

Drawing on a series of related events across the last three years, ‘That’s not my name’ will explore how arts involvement for refugees can help share untold stories and allow for the processing of difficult experiences. Organised by Sue Mayo, the event will culminate with a sound installation created by an intergeneration group of refugees at the Horniman Museum.

Andoline Marguerite is organising a workshop for trans, non-binary and gender questioning young people to develop prototypes of new speculative technologies. Building on strong links with the NHS, ‘Tech fictions for trans and queer futures’ will generate ideas for technology to support young trans people now and in the future.

Professor Sue Clayton’s workshops will help the UK refugee activist-volunteer sector reflect on the largest civilian mobilisation in Britain since World War Two – the Refugee Crisis of 2015. ‘Bring It Home’ will take place in London and Calais and bring together at least eight partners including Amnesty International.

For Conducting and Conductive Weaving, Dr Sarah Wiseman will organise an introductory workshop where participants will weave their own fabric incorporating conductive materials. When connected to a computer the woven swatches will create music and the data gathered from the session will inform a new publication on interaction with eTextiles.

Chantelle Lewis’ Surviving Society podcast explores issues of ‘race’, gender, and class through sociological ideas and interviews with researchers, activists and anti-racism campaigners. Funding will support editing costs for future episodes.

Find out more about public engagement at Goldsmiths.