ISLANDS IN THE GLOBAL AGE
This Lab explores the connections between identity, culture, technology and natural environment in Scotland, Europe and archipelagic regions across the globe.
The engrained cultural practices, philosophical ideas and psychological resources we derive from inhabiting a territory and passing on our experience and knowledge to future generations through arts, crafts and technology define our identity and relationship to other communities around the world. The archipelagic layout of the Scottish natural environment and its interactions across time with its continental neighbours and islandic nations across the globe, providing creative solutions to global challenges, can be looked at through a trans-disciplinary lens which combines the expertise of practitioners and researchers from the College of Arts (Modern Languages & Cultures, History of Art, Theatre, Humanities, Theology & Religious Studies), College of Social Sciences (Education) and College of Medicine, Veterinary & Life Sciences (Psychology & Neuroscience).
The aim of the Lab is to provide a congenial research environment that fosters collaboration across disciplinary boundaries and supports the personal development of Early Career Researchers and PhD students. As a natural extension of the activities organised through the Existential Philosophy and Literature Network (2017-2019) and the Glasgow-Kyushu Research Collaboration in the Arts (2019-2022), the theme seeks to energise links with external partners (such as GalGael Trust, Scottish Centre for Geopoetics, the Alliance française de Glasgow and the French Institute in Edinburgh), and to organise public events to disseminate ideas around nomadism and travel across cultures, inspired by the geopoetic movement initiated by the Glasgow-born Scottish-French writer, Kenneth White. This line of enquiry ties in with cross-disciplinary research on eco-criticism, the impact of technology and human/robot interactions during the pandemic, and the role of creative industries and performative art in tackling mental health and restoring our relationship to the natural environment.