Institute of Creativity, Communities and Culture (ICCC)
The Research and Knowledge Exchange Institute of Creativity, Communities and Culture explores the power of creativity and culture to make positive change in the world.
We tell stories of the past, present and future through research with local and global communities.
We deliver real-world research and innovation by placing an emphasis on the role of culture and creativity in society. In times of environmental crises, amidst growing cultural tensions and precarious global politics, the need for the arts and humanities to foster dialogue and facilitate shared experience is fundamental and urgent.
As an expansive and interdisciplinary community, we place creativity and culture at the centre of our research. We work closely with industry, public and third-sector partners to enhance current and historical understandings of thought, culture and heritage. Our work inspires ‘new ways of looking’, delivering projects which mobilise the creative potential of communities to shape their places and lives.
We provide a robust and supportive framework in all aspects of arts, humanities and creative practice research for postgraduate researchers through to professors.
We facilitate collaborations with other institutes to develop world-leading research that encourages self-expression and provides opportunities for creative exchange across social, cultural and generational boundaries.
Our use of cutting-edge visual, textual, acoustic and embodied methods advances the role of culture as a strategic natural resource, with the power to shape understandings of the world in profound and transformative ways.
Through knowledge exchange partnerships and co-designed research, we work with local and international partners to create healthy, environmentally sustainable and culturally vibrant communities, which stimulate positive global change.
Parts of our research contribute to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
Creativity
Creativity has the power to make positive change in the world.Communities
We collaborate and learn alongside our local communities and with international partners.Culture
Understanding language, history and culture is crucial to a healthy global future.
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Research centres and groups
Our academics
Candice has extensive experience of research in a wide range of educational and community settings, examining uses of literacies in life. Her current research uses a participatory approach with disadvantaged children and young people, employing narrative, fiction and arts-based m…
Elaine Speight is Reader in Curatorial Practice and Place, and co-curator of In Certain Places – an art-led research project, which brokers connections between people and places. Elaine has written about place-based art and curatorial practice for various publications and present…
Adina Zemanek currently teaches modules in East Asian Popular Culture, East Asian philosophy, Cultural and Creative Industries in East Asia, and Research Methods. She welcomes proposals for doctoral research on topics pertaining to media and popular culture in Taiwan and China.
Carl Morris is a lecturer and researcher working across various sociological disciplines, including popular culture, media, religion, and lifestyle/leisure. He teaches a wide range of areas relating to sociology, media, culture and religion. His latest research project, running b…
Charles Quick is Professor of Public Art Practice and co-principal investigator of In Certain Places – an art-led research project, which brokers connections between people and places. He has developed an internationally recognised hybrid research practice which combines the prod…
Robert Poole is a historian of 18th and 19th century Britain. He is author of Peterloo: the English Uprising, co-author of the graphic novel Peterloo, and consultant historian to the 2019 Peterloo bicentenary commemoration in Manchester. He also writes on the cultural history of …
Nick is a deaf academic working in the fields of linguistics, sociolinguistics and international development. He is a reader in Sign Languages and Deaf Studies. Nick has worked with the Indonesian deaf community since 2007, and is particularly interested in Labovian and third-wav…
Carole teaches Critical Studies in Fashion and Textiles. She has expertise in the social and cultural histories of dress. Her research has led to collaborative projects with archives, museums and arts and health organisations. Carole also supervises postgraduate projects relatin…
Yvonne Reddick is an award-winning poet, nature writer and scholar of environmental culture. Her books include Ted Hughes: Environmentalist and Ecopoet (Palgrave, 2017), Burning Season (Bloodaxe, 2023) and Anthropocene Poetry (Palgrave, 2023). She is the recipient of awards from …
Tracy Hill is joint research lead/coordinator of Artlab Contemporary Print Studios, which tests the relevance of printmaking in contemporary, mainstream art by innovation and expanding print practice through a process of continuing collaborative dialogues with artists. Tracy’s sp…
Magda is the research lead/coordinator of Art Lab Contemporary Print Studios. This tests the relevance of printmaking in contemporary art by expanding print practice through continuing collaborative dialogues with artists. She works with BA and MA students, as well as early caree…
Ewa was born and educated in Poland. In 1987, she finished her graduate education at Warsaw University, where she received a master’s degree in philosophy. In 1995, she received a PhD from Łódź University in film studies. She was working in Poland as a lecturer in sociology and f…
François is a media innovation specialist with wide international experience who teaches across a range of practical and theoretical journalism courses, as well as supervising PhD studies on topics related to innovation and sustainability. A National Teaching Fellow of the Higher…
Tony Rigg is a Music Industry Advisor, Practitioner, Business Consultant, and Educator affiliated with the University of Central Lancashire, where he leads the Master of Arts Programme in Music Industry Management. He established this in 2012 with seminal musician Peter Hook. He …
Victoria is a Senior Lecturer and teaches across a range of disciplines on our Fine Art team. With particular expertise in video and installation art, her practice-led research has led to art exhibitions, residencies and commissions with galleries and museums internationally. In …
Lucy is a senior Lecturer on BA (Hons) Dance with UCLanDance. Her particular area of interest is in using movement as a tool to re-engage and the potential it holds in developing ownership, choice & self-awareness, especially when working with non-dancers from potentially exclude…
Ruth is an Independent Dance Artist and Lecturer in Higher Education whose work is deeply rooted in Education and Community Practice. Through a person-centred approach, Ruth’s practice encourages individuals to discover and explore movement in relationship to self and other. Rut…
Animation Industry professional since 1985. 2D Animator, Directing Animator, Animation Series Director, Storyboard & Layout Artist, Character Designer, Illustrator, Script Editor and Visual Gag Writer. Specialist areas: Children’s TV Series & Specials, TV Commercials, Title Seque…
John is a researcher working in cultural history and cultural aesthetics. His research interests include the socio-cultural dimensions of ‘waste’, cultural memory, and the relationship between creativity and place. Over an academic career spanning two decades, he has also taught …
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We welcome collaboration from across the university and beyond. To find out more about the institute, or to tell us about your own research, please contact us by email.