Centre for Culture and Creativity
Connecting researchers and practitioners from across the arts and humanities, the Centre for Culture and Creativity seeks to enrich cultural understanding, increase cultural engagement, enhance public debate, further creative and applied practice, and drive positive social change.
Addressing vital and complex critical, historical and creative questions, researchers employ a range of methodologies – including archival, practice-based, critical and theoretical – in disciplines encompassing art, computing (animation and games design), creative writing, cultural geography, curation, dance, design, English literature, history, media studies and performing arts.
The Centre’s research areas include representation, identity and disability; community, place and belonging; cultural engagement and participation; collected and contested memories; and radicalism, revolution, democracy and dissent.
It works in partnership with regional, national and international organisations and charities in arts, education, industry, heritage, museums, public health and policy sectors including Tate Plus, National Gallery Research Network, and Creative Fuse North East.
The University’s input into the AHRC Centre for Doctoral Training, The Heritage Consortium, and the Northern Bridge Consortium are hosted here.
Meet the team
Dr Rachel Carroll
Dr Roisin Higgins
Professor Simon McKeown
Professor Sarah Perks
Research at Teesside
I very much appreciate that I work with colleagues who continue to produce such original scholarship. Research is a way of contributing to and learning from the University’s diverse community.
Impact case studies
Are commemorations more than they seem?
Analysing commemorations of the 1916 Easter Rising to understand how historical events create meaning in the present
Read moreCreating 'useful museums'
Reimagining the role of communities in curating museums and galleries
Read morePlacing disability arts centre stage
Increasing the visibility of marginalised disabled people in cultural spaces and cultural production
Read moreRe-interpreting the North East’s industrial past
Giving value to alternative narratives for the North East’s heavily industrialised past
Read morePromoting gender equality in writing and research
An immersive three-day workshop focused on advancing the research careers of next generation women scholars in Pakistan.
Read moreThe Conversation
The Conversation is an independent source for news and opinions, written by the academic and research community for a general public audience.
Assassin’s Creed TV series: why it’s so hard to adapt video games for the screen
16/11/2020
Ian Sturrock
The Assassin’s Creed franchise is leaping forward (off the top of a building, presumably) with the release of the 12th game in the series – Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – and the recent announcement of an upcoming Netflix show.
Anne Boleyn: in defence of historical inaccuracy
07/06/2021
Leanne Bibby
The Channel 5 historical drama series Anne Boleyn, directed by Lynsey Miller, stars black British actor Jodie Turner-Smith as the Tudor queen consort at the height of her power and influence, shortly before her dramatic fall and execution in May 1536.
Dennis the Menace lives on: the influence of this 70-year-old on everything from darts to raves
02/12/2021
Julian Lawrence
The current Somerset House exhibition in London, Beano: The Art of Breaking the Rules, revels in the joyful impudence of the 83-year-old comic magazine’s characters. A tribute to the publication’s impact seems long overdue; as curator Andy Holden says: “Beano’s irreverent sensibility is something that appeals to you as a child, but also, for some, never leaves you.”
French ski resorts are fighting for survival due to changing COVID travel restrictions
21/01/2022
Leon Davis
Before COVID, the winter sports tourism industry was worth over €70 billion (£58.2 billion) a year globally, with ski resorts expanding across the world. The pandemic then led to a stark decrease in visitor numbers, with a major impact on revenues and livelihoods.
Bloody Sunday 50 years later: what it means when we commemorate trauma
28/01/2022
Roisín Higgins
At its heart, Bloody Sunday was a devastating personal tragedy involving the deaths of 13 men and boys, six of whom were only 17 years old. The victims were taking part in a civil rights protest march against internment.
When do strikes work? History shows the conditions need to be right
08/08/2022
Christopher Massey
There has been a significant decline in union-led strike action in the 21st-century UK. But with average public sector pay increasing by 1.5% between March and May 2022 (versus 7.2% in the private sector) and households facing a cost of living crisis, industrial disputes are on the rise again in the UK.
Why David Hockney’s Bigger and Closer is an important step forward for immersive art shows
23/02/2023
Simon McKeown
Artist David Hockney has ridden many technological waves. While his mark-making has remained resolutely painterly, he has challenged the practice of painting. He was an early adopter of computer-assisted drawing, using the iPad and iPhone.
