Our Research

Research and Practice in the School of Arts and Cultures

The School of Arts and Cultures is known for its world-leading research and practice. The School is distinctive because of the breadth of subjects and specialisms it encompasses, its excellent relationships with cultural partners, and its critical mass in creative practice expertise.  In REF2021, across Fine Art, Music, and Media, Culture, and Heritage, more than 91% of all our research was deemed world-leading or internationally excellent.

Creativity in research and practice: Our research is closely linked to our impact and engagement activities and our staff and students are leaders and enablers of creative and cultural practice in the region, nationally and internationally.

A key feature of the School of Arts and Cultures is that many of our staff and students have been, and in many cases continue to be, both academics and practitioners (e.g. musicians, artists, journalists, PR professionals and film-makers). Our musicians, artists and film-makers continue to perform and show their work on a world stage and this applies to our students too.

Many colleagues from the School of Arts and Cultures work in co-productive ways with sectoral partners and to actively contribute to practice and policy making - for example, making digital apps, co-creating exhibitions with curators, writing policy briefs for external bodies, investigating the UK’s live music industry, influencing national debates around media habits, the creative arts and the cultural industries. In the most recent UK Research Excellence Framework, all three discipline areas at the Schools of Arts and Cultures achieved outstanding results for their research.