Creative Engagement Fellowship Phase 2: Project Launch

The Creative Engagement Fellowship scheme is funded by the University of Leicester’s Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund (WT ISSF), which supports research towards interdisciplinary collaborations and furthering public engagement based upon their Health Agendas. For Phase 2, 5 projects were funded for academic researchers across the University that tackle issues around Racism, Ableism and Classism within communities that are also related to their field of study. We aimed to encourage a deeper understanding of engagement practice while giving the participants the opportunity to approach research differently through creative development.

The projects were completed over 6 months, with each project matched-up with a creative practitioner to develop the project and its final outcomes. This was not a commission but a chance to develop the project together by bringing research and the arts together, allowing for opportunities for the exchange of vital skills to make academic work more inclusive, diverse and accessible to all. The creative practitioner came from ranges of disciplines and were chosen for the project based on their relation to the themes of the projects. In exchange the creative was compensated for their time and expertise, and were given the opportunity to engage with innovative research while developing their practical skills.

Each project received their funding and produced a digital output of their choice. The five projects were:

·         Addressing Ethnic Participation Biases in Human Genomics

·         Exploring Cultural and Traditional Perceptions of Natural Remedy Use in Leicester based South Asian Communities

·         The Effects of Long Covid on Affected Communities

·         Everywhere & Nowhere: Exploring Histories of Disability across the National Trust

·         Geoscience in Pixels

You can learn more about the projects by clicking here.