Directory of Projects (current)

RURALEX: Knowledge in Crisis: The Dynamics of Environmental Expertise admist Rural Change

Principal Investigator:  Roger Norum ( Oulu University, Finland)

Co-Investigator: Professor Alice Eldrige (University of Sussex), Alessandro Rippa, (University of Oslo, Norway), Stefan Dorondel (The Institute for Southeast European Studies, Romania), Camila del MármolM (University of Barcelona, Spain), and Kadri Tüür (Tallinn University, Estonia)

Funder: AHRC- HERA

Project dates: 2025-2028

RURALEX will develop deep mapping tools from multispecies perspectives to surface and articulate how knowledges in rural Europe are shifting, in order to better understand the implications for contemporary Social, cultural and ecological challenges. The team will develop and apply original research methods derived from anthropology, history, literary, cultural studies, sound studies and the environmental humanities, to advance inter-disciplinary debates on rural change and ecological justice; the project will generate comparable data for engendering positive change at the policy level. In so doing, RURALEX aims to demonstrate the importance of humanities approaches for studying urgent socio-ecological crises that are defining the future of many remote communities in Europe.  

Website: https://chanse.org/ruralex/

 

Promiscuous Print: Legal Deposit Libraries, Rejected Texts, and New Methods for Negative Bibliography (PromPrint)

Principal Investigator: Dr Hannah Field (University of Sussex)

Funder: European Research Council (ERC)

Project dates: 2025-2030

Legal deposit libraries are supposed to preserve all published texts, but they also reject texts due to lack of space, disinterest in particular genres and other factors. In the UK in the 19th century, a significant increase in the production of printed texts placed considerable pressure on the deposit system. In this context, the ERC-funded PromPrint project analyses the rejects of legal deposit. It will investigate which texts deposit libraries have rejected, track changes in rejections over time and explore how digital tools and quantitative analyses can help identify gaps in deposit collections. Additionally, the project will use these tools to consider the preservation or exclusion of specific types of texts, such as obscene publications, colonial texts and children's books.

Sustainable AI Futures

Lead: Professor Samantha Walton (Bath Spa University)

Co-Lead: Dr Jo Walton (University of Sussex)

Funder: AHRC (BRAID)

Project dates: 2025-2028

Sustainable AI Futures seeks to place the environmental humanities at the heart of AI research and governance. The project will bring the critical perspectives and methodologies of the humanities to bear on AI and its relationship to the planet. It will also generate a stream of lively interdisciplinary activities, using arts, storytelling and play to spark dialogue and inspire new thinking. Project partners AfroFutures_UK and the British Science Fiction Association will be contributing to this arts-led stream.

Website: https://susaifutures.com/about/

 

Youth, affective polarization and trust: a transnational perspective (YAPT)

Lead: Dr Marjoke Oosterom (IDS)

Co-leads: Professor David Weir (University of Sussex), University of Witwatersrand (South Africa), CEBRAP (Brazil), and PDAG (India).

Funder: ESRC

Project dates: 2024-2027

YAPT will answer the following question: How and to what extent does young peoples' social media engagement with online manifestations of partisan polarisation influence their levels of trust, and resulting political behaviour and social interactions? In Brazil, India, and South Africa, the YAPT project will focus on understanding dynamics of polarization, trust and behaviours among urban youth. In the UK, the project will work with diaspora youth from these three countries, analysing their social media engagement with polarized debates in their countries of origin.

YAPT is an interdisciplinary study that combines qualitative, participatory research to capture youth voices, with social media analytics (SMA) that will analyse online polarized debate at scale. Preliminary findings will inform the design of deliberative MiniPublics, followed by another round of qualitative research, which will explore whether it is possible to engage youth in ways that reduces polarized debates and increases social and institutional trust.

 Website: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FZ000513%2F1

 

Landecker Digital Memory Lab: Connective Holocaust Commemoration

Lead: Prof. Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden

Team: James Alvarez, Kate Marrison,  Philippa Murnaghan, and  Ben Pelling, Mel Poluck, and Steve Wang.

Funder: The Alfred Landecker Foundation

Project dates: 2024 - 2029

The Landecker Digital Memory Lab supports a sustainable approach to digital Holocaust memory through the development of a 'living database' of digital projects; an interdisciplinary, dialogical online journal; and running a series of career development modules, innovation initiatives and international conferences.

Website: https://www.digitalmemorylab.com/