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Showing posts with the label Coventry

New publication: Seascape

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I am happy to announce the forthcoming publication of a book inspired by my storytelling research. The title Seascape comes from a play on the words ‘sea’ and ‘landscape’. Seascape is the title of one of the stories in the book. I had the idea for it walking the coast line of Cornwall. In particular along the areas connected to Gyllyngvase Beach, Falmouth. Those familiar with these areas will get a lot of the references to Cornish myths and landscape underlying the story. An old monolithic stone arch at Gyllyndune Gardens (Parfitt, 2012)   Why write a book inspired by research? I had intended the writing to become part of my doctoral thesis. Yet before you think how boring (too late I suppose), the writing did not fit the academic work so I dropped that idea early on. Without using the writing as part of the research process which I did not wish to do at that point I created a book of stories instead. The stories I finally selected are interspersed with quotes from...

“Inspirational”, “fantastic”, “an unexpected delight”

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To celebrate Coventry’s bid for the City of Culture (2021), Dr Emma Parfitt, IAS ECF Fellow, University of Warwick, and Fargo village created an exhibition in the centre of Coventry on the 26th November 2016. The exhibition involved 17 artists (from all mediums and crafts) and doctoral students at the University of Warwick. The artists created pieces based on research. This event was an exciting opportunity to bring members of the public, artists and academics together with the aim of bridging the divides between art-science and academia-community.   226 people from Coventry came to the exhibition. Looking into the exhibition what struck me the most was how throughout the day there were always conversations going on. It was a lively, welcoming, social space, with kids, and perhaps I should say kids of all ages, engaging with the artists, researchers and the work that had been produced. Some comments about the collaborations for example were: Useful to see research next t...

What do Starburst and Beetlejuice have in common?

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  Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988) For people who have never been to an exhibition and wonder why it would be relevant for them, I would ask them… do you like horror films? Seems a bit random I agree. Needle felting artist, Jenny Egerton  selected Catherine Lester’s research in children’s horror films to inspire a piece of art. Perhaps you have watched Coraline (2009) or Frankenweenie (2012) with your kids? Or are a diehard Beetlejuice (1988) fan? 'Beetlejuice,'Beetlejuice…’ I won’t tempt fate. Catherine is in the Department of Film and Television studies at Warwick University. She said, ‘My research investigates the children’s horror film in US cinema from early child-friendly films with frightening elements, such as Snow White (1937), to more recent films like Frankenweenie (2012). Children are traditionally thought of as being innocent, vulnerable and impressionable beings. However, children have been enjoying horror films for decades. I explore how thes...

IATL Strategic Grant

I have been awarded a grant for a project with the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry to begin on completion of my doctorate. This is a highly competative staff fund , for large-scale projects which support the university's teaching and learning strategy. I obtained this grant with the support of Cath Lambert. The title of the project is:   A retrospective study to ascertain the pedagogic benefits of research-led teaching   ‘Bearing witness to marginalised groups’   My research interest The Belgrade Theatre’s ‘bearing witness to marginalised groups’ programme aims to work with young people from diverse backgrounds. Each group works closely with a trained dramaturg e (a crafter of stories for the stage), sharing and shaping experiences into dramatic form. This offers young people an opportunity to reflect, share, rethink, and transform their stories. As post-war Coventry was rebuilt so was a theatre for the community ( t he Belgrade). The Council Statu...