Faculty of Arts and Social SciencesLancaster University
Research
Publications
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Research excellence
Although colleagues in the Faculty are engaged in research across a very wide and varied range of subject areas, we can claim to have particular strengths in the following areas:
1. Culture, gender, identity and creativity
This is a leitmotif that runs across much of the new Faculty, drawing strength from virtually every department. This area is driven primarily by social and cultural theorists, and by cultural historians (and Lancaster, for sure, has pre-eminence in these fields), but we also encourage theoretically-grounded empirical work. While there is a specific focus on the North-West in much of what we do (in which concepts of ‘region’, ‘locality’ and ‘place’ are fore-grounded) our empirical work stretches across a broader scale. In addition, we highlight ‘practice as research’ within areas of the creative arts. Areas in which we can claim distinction include:
Culture and creativity
- Popular and visual culture, including film studies
- New (digital) media
- Cultural and social history
- Critical and creative writing
- Practice as research, in all the creative arts
- Literacy, language and social life
- Cultures and educational change
Gender
- Sexual identities and embodiment
- International dimensions of women’s studies
- Feminist cultural studies
- Postcolonial, diversity and race studies
Social identities
- Mobilities, migration, diasporas, multiculturalism and global cultures
- Materiality, sociality and ‘hybrids’
- Global governance and security
- Spirituality and faith
2. Social justice and public policy
Broadly, research in this areas focuses on contemporary social justice (including improvements in social inclusion and social welfare), and how this informs public and social policy. Areas of distinction include:
Health and social care
- Social inclusion (including homelessness, education, and disability – both physical and intellectual)
- Child care and protection
- Gender studies
- Histories of health, social care and medicine
Ethics and public policy
- Bio-ethics and social aspects of genomics
- Public engagement and consultation
- Criminal justice
- Socio-legal studies, and international and comparative law
3. Science, technology and society
In essence, this broad theme concerns relations between scientific and technological developments, and society. It deals with the public understanding of, and concerns about, new technologies and scientific debates, whether at the micro-scale (nano-technologies) or the global scale (climate change). It acknowledges that dialogue with, and engagement between, scientific actors and public communities is essential if public trust and confidence is to be maintained as new developments emerge. Key foci here include:
- The new genetics
- Emerging technologies
- Public engagement and understanding of science
- Theoretical perspectives
- History of science, medicine and environment
4. New methodologies
A number of colleagues in the Faculty have expertise and keen interests in research methodology and methods (notably, qualitative methods), and their application. In some cases, Lancaster can boast the seminal figures in these fields. Again, we would see this as a broad area that cuts across the three preceding themes. Such methodology and methods include:
- Critical realism
- Cultural political economy and moral economy
- Feminist methodology
- Synthesis of qualitative research evidence
- Evaluation methodologies
- Analysis of visual materials
- Oral history
- Discourse analysis
- Computing in the humanities
- Archiving, including digital archives
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Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YD
United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1524 510851
Fax: +44 (0) 1524 510857
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