Engaged Creativity
Engaged Creativity
Building on the deep creative heritage of UCD Arts and Humanities, the creative energy of Dublin, and the international cultural reputation of Ireland, Engaged Creativity seeks to develop world-class creative talent, to foster practice-based research, to bring creative approaches to complex research questions and social problems, and to foster impactful engagement with communities outside the academy. This theme incorporates innovative approaches to creative practice and performance across disciplines, including Creative Writing, Drama, Film, Music, and Digital Content Creation. Researchers in this strand also bring disciplinary focus to thematic areas such as Cultural Heritage, Environmental Humanities, Social Transformation, and Digital Innovation.
Engaged Creativity seeks to develop a creative/critical ecosystem at UCD, which is nourished by cutting-edge academic research and the energies of Ireland’s creative sector and enhanced by state-of-the-art facilities. Work in this strand is conducted by internationally renowned academics and artists and is supported by the UCD Creative Futures Academy.
This research strand contributes to impactful national and international research collaborations, including Una Europa and Climate KIC
Theme Lead: (opens in a new window)Professor PJ Mathews (School of English, Drama & Film)
image credit: Dunk Murphy, UCD Creative Futures Academy
Associated Groups, Institutes & Centres
- (opens in a new window)Creative Futures Academy
- UCD School of English, Drama and Film
- UCD School of Music Ensembles
- UCD Mary Lavin Centre for Creative Writing
- National Folklore Collection
- UCD Library Special Collections
- UCD Humanities Institute
- UCD Earth Institute
- UCD Centre for Irish Towns
- UCD Research Culture
- (opens in a new window)European Heritage Hub
- (opens in a new window)Climate KIC
- (opens in a new window)British Film Institute
- (opens in a new window)Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Arts Office
- (opens in a new window)Creative Ireland
Theme Members & Research Interests
| Theme Member | School | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| (opens in a new window)Emily Mark Fitzgerald | School of Art History and Cultural Policy | Art & visual culture, social history, Irish Studies, museums/cultural policy |
| (opens in a new window)Ciaran Crilly | School of Music | Modern European Music |
| (opens in a new window)Paula McGrath | School of English, Drama and Film | Creative writing; environment; climate change |
| (opens in a new window)Emilie Pine | School of English, Drama and Film | Cultural Memory, Life Writing, Performance |
| (opens in a new window)Peter Moran | School of Music | Music Composition and Performance |
| (opens in a new window)Serena Laiena | School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics | Early modern theatre, Commedia dell'arte, Women’s agency, Women workers in early modern Europe, Social function of theatre, Plurilingualism in theatre |
| (opens in a new window)Victoria Durrer | School of Art History and Cultural Policy | Cultural policy; social science research methods mixed with practice-as-research |
| (opens in a new window)Eva Bru-Dominguez | School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics | Body, Matter, Visual & Performance Arts' |
| (opens in a new window)Isabel Arcezelada | School of History | Refugeedom, Art, Colonialism |
| (opens in a new window)Sean Clancy | School of Music | Music, Performance, Lived Experience |
| (opens in a new window)Laura Anderson | School of Music | Film music & sound design |
| Viktoria Sinkorova | School of Music | Improvisation, co-creation, composition, collaborative practice |
| (opens in a new window)Nicolas Pillai | School of English, Drama and Film | Jazz in Film & Television, Classical Hollywood Cinema, Crime Fiction, Archival Loss |
| (opens in a new window)Maria Stuart | School of English, Drama and Film | Dysfluency Studies: cultural, clinical, and creative responses to dysfluency |
| (opens in a new window)Katherine Fama | School of English, Drama and Film | architecture and narrative, singlehood studies, history of emotions, age studies |
| Niall Holohon | School of English, Drama and Film | Mindful Theatrical Silence |
| Janet Monks | School of English, Drama and Film | Prose Fiction, Menopause, Nature & Colonisation |
| (opens in a new window)Sarah Comyn | School of English, Drama and Film | Environmental Humanities & Creative Practice |
| (opens in a new window)Patrick Mathews | School of English, Drama and Film | Irish culture and social transformation |
| (opens in a new window)Jamie Murphy | School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore | Translation, Terminology, Language Planning, Irish language, Gaeilge |
| (opens in a new window)Benjamin Anderson | School of Art History and Cultural Policy | Cultural labour and organising |
| (opens in a new window)Kelly Fitzgerald | School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore | Orality, popular religion, urban narratives |
| (opens in a new window)Joanna Day | School of Classics | Archaeology, pottery, senses |
| (opens in a new window)Carmela Simmarano | School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics | Translation and music, language learning |
| Michaela Kralova | School of English, Drama and Film | Contemporary Irish Literature: Translation |
| (opens in a new window)Giulia Scapin | School of English, Drama and Film | Social Impact of Fiction, Fictional Representation of Child Sexual Abuse, Impact of Style in Audience Responses |
Projects, News and Events
- Irish Culture and Social Transformation: Lessons from the Irish Literary Revival
- "Our Blue World" screened in Trapdoor as part of Dublin International Film Festival
- European Heritage Hub: Creativity, cultural heritage, and sustainability
- Dr Sarah Comyn and Dr Nicolas Pillai Celebrate University Teaching & Learning Excellence Awards
- College Teaching & Learning Awards
- Join Festival in a Van for a lunchtime open-air celebration of music, spoken word,and theatre
- Ireland's National Concert Hall Gamelan Orchestra release their debut album
- Photogrammetry in Research & Pedagogy
- Ambitious €2.5m ‘black box’ facelift transforms UCD’s former Dramsoc theatre into state-of-the-art performance venue
- UCD College of Arts & Humanities and Creative Futures Academy announce the development of new Black Box & Media Lab
- Applications are open for the Joseph M. Hassett Creativity Bursary
- Minister Simon Harris Launches Creative Futures Academy
- Refuelling the Arts; UCD launches new BA Humanities in Creative & Cultural Industries
- The inaugural UCD Creative Fellows Mentoring Programme 2021: A Year
- UCD School of Art History & Cultural Policy announce their Autumn Research Seminar Series 2021
- A new exhibition in the UCD Classical Museum open to the public 4-10 December 2021
- UCD Art History & Cultural and the National Gallery of Ireland team up for an online event; LIFE Magazine and the Power of Photography with Dr. Katherine A. Bussard
- UCD welcomes three new Artists-in-Residence; Mark O’Halloran, Jenny Jennings and Dónal Lunny
- Dr Paul Perry to speak at the Sheebeen Series, the Lilliput Press and New Island Books Irish publishing showcase event, in conjunction with the Cheltenham Literature Festival 16 October 2021
- Join UCD Composer in Residence, Dr Peter Moran, for 'All The Music You Know Is Out Of Tune'
- Exit 15 mark their booklet launch and discuss community creativity and placemaking
- Christodoulos Makris awarded the inaugural Joseph M Hassett Creativity Bursary
- Nicolas Pillai Award-Winning Creative Practitioner and Academic joins UCD Creative Futures Academy
- Louise Allen joins the Creative Futures Academy as Programme Director, March 2021
- NCAD, IADT and UCD secures €10m award for Creative Futures Academy
- 'What is Creativity?' series announced
- Inaugural meeting of the UCD Creative Fellows takes place