Interdisciplinary Research Collaborations

Elephant in the Ivory Tower: An Antidisciplinary Animal Studies Group, The University of York

This group is founded and directed by researchers Vanessa Ashall, Sarah Bezan, Amanda Rees, and Erica Sheen. Through generous funding by the University of York’s Modern Centre, this research strand generates novel questions about animals. Why do cats knock things over? Would a woolly mammoth taste good? Does a crow know that it is clever? Resisting the urge to only think across, between, or with disciplinary conventions, this group explores what it means to think against disciplinarity and to allow generous and curious inquiry to take us in new directions.

Funded by a CModS Research Strand Fund, 2022-2024

The goal of this interdisciplinary methods workshop is the pooling of knowledge surrounding the socio-ecological entanglements of human and non-human in maritime coastal regions. Particular focus will be placed on the stories, challenges and critical questions surrounding the relationship between coastal cultures and communities and the more-than-terrestrial aquatic and littoral animal community. The project combines cores of disciplinary competency spanning human geography, literary criticism, history, science and technology studies (STS) and the environmental humanities.

Hosted at The University of Exeter with Rich Gorman (Exeter) and James L. Smith (University College Cork), our discussion will cover shared themes and challenges, the synthesis of disciplines and methods, and the digital tools and approaches needed to create dynamic and multi-mode digital storytelling in the area of interdisciplinary coastal humanities. The work takes up the challenge set by anthropologist Veronica Strang to imagine “re-imagined communities” balancing environmental knowledges, the human and the non-human and a range of powers, processes and infrastructures. 

Funded by a British Academy & Royal Irish Academy Seed Funding Grant 2020-2023

***Call For ECR Participants***

Interdisciplinary Coastal Humanities:

A Human-Nonhuman Skillshare Writing Workshop

The Interdisciplinary Coastal Humanities Writing Workshop will support up to 7 early career researchers based in the UK and Ireland who are working across the blue humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Organized by Rich Gorman (Brighton and Sussex Medical School), James Smith (University College Cork) and Sarah Bezan (The University of Sheffield) and funded by a British Academy and Royal Irish Academy Seed Funding Grant, this workshop is designed to foster knowledge exchange between early career researchers and will result in a co-edited collection for the journal Anthropocenes: Human, Inhuman, Posthuman (https://www.anthropocenes.net/). Outputs (which are all peer-reviewed) can include audio essays, interviews, article-length pieces, commentaries, and/or creative interventions.

The aims of this event, and proceeding co-edited collection, are to draw from interdisciplinary perspectives and methodologies to address the complex entangled webs of agency, political ecology, technology, culture, and infrastructure mediating human coastal cultures and coastal biodiversity. Particular focus will be placed on the stories, challenges and critical questions surrounding the relationship between coastal cultures and more-than-terrestrial aquatic and littoral animal communities.

The workshop events will tie into emerging blue humanities networks spanning the Irish Sea, tying the animal and the littoral into a growing complex of collaborative and ECR-led research in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. The writing workshop and discussions will create a forum for the sharing of approaches, concepts, and methodologies between researchers working within different disciplinary fields. By workshopping papers together as a group, we aim to support early-career researchers in advancing their impact and scholarship. Particularly, the workshops will enable participants to explore how blue humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences might impact upon the activities of scholars, governments, coastal communities, and other relevant stakeholders.

Participants selected for the workshop will be eligible to claim financial support to defray the costs of travel and accommodation associated with attendance (up to £180). Lunch and refreshments on the day of the in-person workshop will be provided.

The timeline for the workshop is as follows:

●      Deadline for abstracts of 300 words and bios of 50 words (submit to Rich, James, and Sarah at R.Gorman@bsms.ac.uk, james.smith@ucc.ie, and s.bezan@sheffield.ac.uk): 15 November 2020. Please specify in your abstract which kind of output you plan to contribute (visit Anthropocenes journal for more information).

●      Results of the selection process will be communicated by 30 November 2020 (note that selections will be based primarily on the fit and relevance of the abstract to the workshop aims and to the stated objectives of the Anthropocenes journal)

●      Virtual Workshop (2 breakout sessions and 1 group session at one hour each in January 2021) to develop 1500-3000 word drafts

●      In-Person Workshop (pending COVID-19) at a UK-based University (TBC) in July 2021 to revise and polish final drafts

The Anthropocene -- an epoch of unparalleled climate change, habitat destruction, and species loss - offers an opportunity to think about the role of storytelling, performance, and modes of representation that respond to environmental conditions. This project, "Prospective Anthropocenes and Speculative Environments" explores creative modes of representation that engage with problems of nature trauma (Paula McGrath), species loss (Sarah Bezan), climate change (Ailise Bulfin), and energy futures (Sam Solnick).

Hosted at the University College Dublin, this project will take the format of a roundtable composed of two tête à têtes (or one on one conversations) between a total of four scholars from Ireland and the UK. Paula McGrath (UCD) and Sam Solnick (Liverpool) will conduct a one on one conversation about theatre, performance, and creative writing; Sarah Bezan (Sheffield) and Ailise Bulfin (UCD) will discuss species loss and climate change. These tête à têtes will be made open to attendees from University College Dublin and will be followed by a recording of a podcast episode (to be released through the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment podcast series) that summarizes the research findings and questions raised.

Funded by a British Academy & Royal Irish Academy Seed Funding Grant 2020-2022