Place and Community

What can Arts and Humanities contribute to building the kinds of places and communities we want to live, love, work and play in?

Place and Community is an initiative led by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of York, coordinated by the Humanities Research Centre.

Aim

Place and Community aims to connect University of York Arts and Humanities research with partner organisations to contribute to cultural wellbeing in York and beyond through placemaking and community building.

Objectives

To foster working relationships between external partners in the City of York and beyond, and researchers in the Arts and Humanities and throughout the University of York.
- - We offer knowledge exchange funding to support the development of these partnerships.
To facilitate the development of key strategic themes for these partnerships to focus on, including:
- - supporting post-Covid recovery
  - supporting diversity and inclusion
  - developing cultural wellbeing
To identify potential sources of research funding for researchers and partners.

Stay in touch

Visit our Contact page to request to join our mailing list: the best way to find out about events and opportunities as they arise.

Our Projects

We support a range of partnership-building projects around the themes of place and community. Read more about a selection of them here:

Contemporary Mayan Testimonial Culture

Dr Natasha Tanna (Department of English and Related Literature) is working with the Abejas de Acteal, an autonomous indigenous organisation in Chiapas, Mexico, to support the Abejas’ work on producing a testimonial book in Tsotsil and Spanish and a documentary film in Tsotsil telling the community’s story in their own words and images

Inclusive Environmental governance in the páramo

Dr Hanne Cottyn, Prof. Henrice Altink (Department of History) and Prof. Piran White (Interdisciplinary Global Development Centre) worked with partners in Colombia to make environmental governance more inclusive. The project promoted the inclusion of local communities in the protection of the páramo ecosystems of the Andean highlands.

A still from the Cut Above the Rest short video, showing twelve participants in a 4-by-3 Zoom gallery.

Yorkshire Digital Drama Group

Dr Lisa Peschel (School of Arts and Creative Technologies) and Susan Walls (KiB) are working together to ease loneliness among elderly adults by engaging them in online drama readings.

Detail of a poster with a cream background and a monochrome image of the entrance way to the York Theatre Royal. A black of black text on the left-hand side reads 'A great opportunity to develop research, writing and publishing skills, the project is open to all: no previous experience is necessary'

An Architectural Gazetteer of Twentieth-Century York

Dr Joshua Mardell (Department of History of Art) is drawing new attention to York’s unsung, under-researched and threatened twentieth-century architecture.

Two Playstation controllers on a dark blue and purple background with a wavy design.

Heritage Game Jame

Dr Colleen Morgan and Despoina Sampatakou (Department of Archaeology) partnered with the European Society of Black and Allied Archaeologists, Museum Detox and the Past at Play Lab (Leiden University) to host a Heritage Game Jam.

Pete Dale, Ebenezer Ayerh (a.k.a. Slix) and Prince Owusu-Agyekum (a.k.a. Rapid) against a cream background with black text that cannot be read.

Building collaboration with the Ruff Sqwad Arts Foundation

Dr Pete Dale and Dr Amandine Pras of the School of Arts and Creative Technologies used the Place and Community Knowledge Exchange fund to develop a collaboration with the Ruff Sqwad Arts Foundation.

Seven entertainers standing in front of St. Mary's Abbey in York's Museum Gardens, wearing early medieval costume. The two nearest to the camera are fire-breathing while on stilts. Behind them, two others juggle torches. The remaining three stand further back and are playing drums.

Creativity, Heritage and Community

Prof. Rachel Cowgill (School of Arts and Creative Technologies), Prof. Stephanie Wynne-Jones (Department of Archaeology), Sarah Maltby and Rachel Tumman (York Archaeology) are developing creative partnerships around the theme of community.

The Rymer Auditorium at the University of York Music Research Centre. The room has dark blue walls and a walkway in the background. A sound system is set up on the stage in front of seven banked rows of dark blue seats.

Visual health for performing artists

Dr Naomi Norton (School of Arts and Creative Technologies) worked with Allegro Optical and the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) to bring together performing artists, clinicians, and other organisations involved in promoting performing artists’ health and wellness.

A black and gold clock showing the time as quarter past two, attached to a medieval buildng in Coney Street. The background is a bright sky, with a few white clouds.

StreetLife

A group of York academics are working on a project to revitalise one of the city’s iconic streets. The project draws inspiration from York’s rich history and heritage and vibrant creative communities, and involves businesses, the general public, and other stakeholders in shaping the future of the high street.

Guests take their seats in the Guildhall main hall. In the background is one of the Guildhalss stained-glass windows. The main projector screen dispkays the logos of the University of York and the Humanities Research Centre, and the words 'Place and Community Summer Showcase'

The main hall at York Guildhall, as Rebecca Madgin answers questions from the audience.

Guests make conversation during a break at the Place and Community Showcase.

Place and Community summer showcase 2022

The Humanities Research Centre team was delighted to welcome guests from across the University and beyond to the Place and Community Summer Showcase at York Guildhall on 28 June. It was a pleasure to celebrate the achievements of University of York academics and their partners outside the University, whose projects were supported by the Place and Community KE Fund in the 2021-22 academic year.

The event opened with a keynote address by Prof. Rebecca Madgin (University of Glasgow), the AHRC Programme Director for Place-based Research. Rebecca argued for the importance of arts and humanities approaches in developing understandings of place that take account of felt experience. The keynote led to a stimulating Q&A session, which was followed by presentations about funded projects, as well as plenty of time for networking and conversation, for meeting other attendees and forging new relationships. We're excited to welcome members of the University and external partners in York and beyond to more Place and Community events over the coming academic year!

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