Abstract
This chapter examines the emergence of transdisciplinary learning out of two distinct but interrelated collaborative education projects commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre (WAC), UK. WAC invited eminent University of Warwick academics from the fields of biomedicine and economics into partnership with regional and national artists and theatre-makers to engage with young people living in socio-economically deprived and ethnically diverse areas of the city of Coventry. We argue that these projects could be indicative of radical challenges to conventional partnership-working in the Arts and Sciences and they could also signify the democratic, convivial potential of transdisciplinary approaches to research dissemination and public engagement strategies in the context of higher education.
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Notes
- 1.
For example, King’s Cultural Institute (2015) in London has set up a diverse network of collaborations that connects industry professionals with academics to enhance ‘public engagement’ with research. Please see Reference list for webpage.
- 2.
Baz Kershaw and Alan Rivett (Director of WAC) were co-supervisors of this CDA project.
- 3.
WAC work across eight local authorities in the West Midlands – Coventry, Warwickshire, Solihull, Worcestershire, Sandwell, Dudley, Shropshire and Staffordshire.
- 4.
The Wellcome Trust is an international charity funding a range of projects in biomedical research and medical humanities and allocates £10 million annually to ‘support projects that encourage people of all ages and from all walks of life to be informed, inspired and involved’ by issues relating to biomedicine and bioethics (Wellcome Trust 2010).
- 5.
This funding from ACE supported WAC’s new commissioning initiative called ‘Transform’. This was headed by Alan Rivett, Director of WAC, but led by Matt Burman, Head of Programming and Audiences and Paul Warwick and Ed Collier (China Plate).
- 6.
Over the course of each phase, the teaching staff produced a series of learning materials that detailed other possible curriculum innovations. These were made into a SBB booklet that was sent to Primary schools in the surrounding areas.
- 7.
Bank On It was co-produced by the Barbican, London.
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Turner-King, R., Kershaw, B. (2019). From Human Anatomy to the Global Banking Crisis: Exploring Warwick Arts Centre’s Commitment to Artist-Academic Collaboration. In: Finneran, M., Anderson, M. (eds) Education and Theatres. Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22223-9_7
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