Key Research Themes
Environment, Ecology and Sustainability
Our research explores urgent questions about the natural world, and the relationship between the human and the more-than-human. We are developing innovative and creative responses to the challenges of environmental change.
Social Justice, Identity and Empowerment
Research in this area is central to the University’s mission to advocate for and advance equality and opportunity both within our local communities and globally. With a commitment to social justice, we are responding to inequalities related to, for example, education, class, gender, disability, and income.
Digital Futures, Innovation and Enterprise
Research under this theme includes work at the cutting edge of digital innovation, alongside an examination of the societal, ethical, environmental and creative implications of new technologies. We ask what a sustainable and prosperous future might look like, and examine the contextual factors that shape the answers to such questions.
Community, Culture and Heritage
Our scholarship emphasises the value of narrative, examining stories about place, past, people and community, often doing so in collaboration with arts, museum and heritage organisations. Navigating the multiple meanings of history and heritage, we reveal how essential they are to a better understanding of our present and future.
Health, Wellbeing, Creativity and Belief
Our research asks what wellbeing looks like and examines what it means to care and be cared for. We explore the value of a range of practices - in areas such as exercise, religion and philosophy, and artistic production - for improving quality of life, and study factors that impact upon health and wellbeing for both individuals and communities.