Summer School signals 'real potential'
Published: 6 July 2015
The Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities first national Summer School signals potential for collaboration, writes Deidre Heddon.
The Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities held its first national Summer School at the end of June, writes Professor Deirdre Heddon, Dean of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities.
More than 18 workshops, led by academic experts from across Scotland, were available to doctoral students from across the SGSAH’s 16 HEI members. Workshops ranged from ‘Public Humanities’, ‘Philosophies of Knowledge and Research’ and ‘Policy Relevant Research’ - all led by UoG colleagues - to ‘Feminist Research Methods’ and ‘Quantitative and Qualitative Methods for Arts and Humanities Researchers’. The inaugural Annual Lectures were held at the University of Glasgow, with keynotes presented by Professors Graham Harman (American University in Cairo) and Vinciane Despret (University of Liège).
The first Summer School closed with a vibrant Research Showcase at The Lighthouse. Research was displayed by 13 doctoral or early career researchers from across Scotland. These included Emma Hill from Heriot-Watt, with an exhibition entitled ‘Somali Voices in Glasgow City’, Luca Nascuiti from Aberdeen University, with a sound-work exploring the morphologies of Northern landscapes, and Alice Tarbuck from Dundee, who created art-books as ways to demonstrate the mobility of the poetry of Thomas A. Clark.
The University of Glasgow was well represented in the showcase. Former doctoral graduate, Dr. Laura Bissell (now a Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), unveiled her new research project, ‘Everyday Commuting Excursions’, whilst doctoral researcher Arun Sood created a video animation and poster tracking ‘The Transatlantic Voyage of Robert Burns’. Robert St. John, a first year AHRC-funded student, supervised across Geography and Theatre Studies, demonstrated the potential of interdisciplinary research by using recorded sound, photography, music and writing to explore and document pollution in the Lea Valley.
The SGSAH Summer School signals the real potential of greater collaboration across Scotland’s HEIs. The College of Arts is pleased to be able to provide the administrative base for the SGSAH as it continues to develop its innovative portfolio of activity over the next four years.
Funded by the AHRC, the SFC and HIE members, further information about the SGSAH can be found at www.sgsah.ac.uk/about/
First published: 6 July 2015
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