Research projects

Learn more about our research projects across our nine clusters or view our archives for our completed or past projects. 

View archived projects

Gaming Global

Funded by the British Council, the Game Cultures research cluster worked with game makers, artists and policy makers to advise the Council on the extent to which their arts programmes should engage with video games.

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Riffs - Experimental Writing on Popular Music

Riffs: Experimental Writing On Popular Music is a journal producing popular music research through a variety of medium...

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Punkt Birmingham 2020

Working with innovative Norwegian festival Punkt to create new artistic outputs and forge exciting interdisciplinary c...

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The Transnational Trade in Hardcore Pornography

Examining the transitional relationship between British and Dutch pornography to contribute to debates around the hist...

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Conflict, Memory and Displacement

Examining the relationship between conflict, memory and displacement surrounding  global conflicts in the UK and Ital...

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smARTplaces

Researchers in the Media and Place research cluster critically evaluated the smARTplaces project, which enabled cultur...

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Voices of War and Peace

BCU took part in the collaborative Voices of War and Peace project, specifically investigating the contribution of blac...

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BCU research project investigates the role of arts and culture in local politics

BCU research project,  40 years on: Gender Equality , introduces the work and activism of Birmingham-based women in ...

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Craft Expertise

Dr Karen Patel has highlighted the extent of racism and microaggressions in UK professional craft and is working with o...

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Everyday Jazz Life

Investigating the challenges faced by a generation of musicians in today's society as they negotiate life with music. ...

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USE-IT! - Unlocking Social and Economic Innovation Together

BCU researchers supported the USE-IT project, an initiative aimed at improving urban development and solving social an...

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Pebble Mill oral history project

Aiming to preserve a piece of important media history, Dr Vanessa Jackson conducted a series of interviews with staff ...

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Harkive

As the way people consume music continues to change, the Harkive project investigates how people's experiences are evo...

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Jazz and Everyday Aesthetics

Through a series of seminars, musical performances, and workshops, the project examined different claims about jazz’s ...

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Live Music Research

With live music facing significant challenges, this project investigates live music activity in Birmingham and the imp...

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Media, community and the creative citizen

Exploring the use of digital media by individuals and communities, and how these technologies are being utilised to en...

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Cultural Landscapes

Seeking to explore data visualisation as a  methodology for supporting cultural organisations who seek to address inequ...

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Jazz on BBC TV: 1960-1969

Investigating  the television recording and broadcast of jazz, to establish the connection between jazz and media as ...

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Global Reggae Research Project

The Global Reggae Research Project brings together researchers to explore the development of reggae across the world. ...

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Slanguages

The Slanguages research and exhibition explores the creative use of language in a variety of performance mediums, info...

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CHIME

CHIME explored the uses and re-uses of different types of heritage through the study of jazz and improvised music fest...

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Developing a digital literacy and verification network in the Global South

Research from Dr Dima Saber and Dr Jerome Turner has informed projects which have equipped over 7,000 activists with t...

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Exploring and researching the art of songwriting

Dr Simon Barber has helped shine a light on the craft and methodology behind songwriting, while also establishing it a...

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Monitoring and Evaluation Lab

Helping improve monitoring and evaluation for new projects and ongoing research.

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Diaspora Screen Media Network

The DSMN aims to explore the exciting developments taking place in Black British and British Asian Cinema and TV broug...

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Exploring and researching the art of songwriting

Dr Simon Barber has helped shine a light on the craft and methodology behind songwriting, while also establishing it a...

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