Research areas

Examples of current and recent research projects include:

Borders of Belonging: Historical and Creative Methods in Heritage and Placemaking (Alison Carrol) This project, funded by the British Academy and by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, explores the history of the idea of the Channel Tunnel in France and Britain (1802-1975). It includes a workshop on placemaking and heritage at European borders funded by the Humboldt Centre at the University of Bayreuth.

Sensory Smithfield (Monica Degen) This digital resource evolved out of a research project funded by Brunel University London in collaboration with the Museum of London: “The Changing Feel of Smithfield: exploring sensory identities and temporal flows”. The aim of the research project was to capture the sense of place in the Smithfield area before its redevelopment through the Culture Mile project. The website experiments with different ways of communicating and visualising the various temporal flows, sensory engagements and fluctuating atmospheres that characterise the Smithfield Market area over a 24 hour period. http://sensorysmithfield.com

Reimagining Uxbridge High Street (Monica Degen) Funded by the Greater London Authority, this study analyses the experiences of locals and visitors of Uxbridge High street to provide an experiential-emotional map of the current look and feel of Uxbridge High Street.

Free Speech Struggles at Hyde Park from 1945 up until 2017 (John Roberts) This Leverhulme project explores urban space, urban parks and free speech in London. Papers from the project examine issues including the meaning of free speech, spatial assemblies and the right to the city.

Doctoral students negotiating the shift to academic positions (Ellen McHugh) Doctoral students negotiating the shift to academic positions (brunel.ac.uk)

Performing City Resilience (Stuart Andrews) https://performingcityresilience.com. This project explores intersections between performance and emergency/resilience management. Alongside conventional academic publications exploring these intersections, we liaise with stakeholders in arts and resilience to inform strategy development and implementation, and to enable organisations to develop innovative and transformative local partnerships. See, particularly, our work in New Orleans (https://performingcityresilience.com/new-orleans/) and in response to Covid-19 (UK/US) (https://performingcityresilience.com/covid-19/). We are currently producing a new book that reflects on our work in New Orleans (Louisiana State University Press).

Ethnographic solutions to inequalities in South Asian Advice Ecosystems (Luke Heslop) https://www.aeq-advice.com/

Grahame Park Social Research Project (Magali Peyrefitte) This project works with the Colindale Communities Trust (a charity organisation based on the Grahame Park Estate in Barnet - https://www.colindalecommunitiestrust.org). The estate is about to be regenerated but is meanwhile suffering from physical and social neglect. Residents of the Grahame Park Estate are facing particularly high and historical level of deprivation compounded by the pandemic and the current cost of living crisis which are affecting their health and well-being. This is now coupled with the threat of being displaced.

Household enactments of education during the Covid-19 pandemic among low-income families of primary-aged children (Emma Wainwright and Kate Hoskins)

Engaging low-income families in education research: an interdisciplinary exploratory study (Emma Wainwright and Kate Hoskins) Engaging low-income families in education research (brunel.ac.uk)

Happy to Chat social movement (Dorothy Yen) This project aims to promote Happy to Chat as a social movement in the U, using nudge theory, in conjunction with existing happy to chat schemes, such as happy to chat benches and cafes. To find out more, please visit happytochat.uk.

Equipping Lesotho's primary school teachers for educating and motivating rural children (Nicola Ansell) https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Projects/Project?entryid=99890438-50b6-4c38-b345-8a59226500fa Building on earlier research, this project works with teacher training institutions in Lesotho to develop ways of connecting schooling to the lives and interests of rural children.