Dr Harvey Humphrey
- Lecturer in Social Research Methods (Sociological & Cultural Studies)
email:
Harvey.Humphrey@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns:
He/him/his
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5791-4522Biography
I am an interdisciplinary creative social 'scientist' with a background in co-production and creative methods. My work cuts across trans studies and queer disability studies. I care about working with communities within these disciplines and I often focus on those marginalised or excluded by research or those with a mistrust of research processes. I draw on a range of creative methods to make these research relationships work because I think creative approaches can give us a way in to sociological stories that are hard to tell and hard to hear.
I have previously worked at the University of Northumbria and the University of Strathclyde on co-produced and creative projects. I also have a background working and volunteering in Student Unions. I am a published poet and I produce and perform sociological poetry.
My PhD, from the University of Glasgow, addressed trans and intersex activist relationships across Australia, Malta and the UK with the use of ethnodrama. During an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Strathclyde I staged this work as a piece of ethnotheatre (a play) with a cast and crew with a connection to the LGBTI community most of whom were queer and trans.
Research interests
Creative Representation
I tried to find the words but they wouldn’t come
struggling to write, all my thoughts come undone
overwhelmed by the burden
of representation
of real people with a real story
so I added creativity
Swapping out one truth for another
Replacing one place with the other
removed from context, out of time
Freed up these stories, theirs not mine
their many truths overlapped in rhyme
Through this I found the words, their words
Their expression, their phrasing, their terms
to do justice to their stories, contexts
to make sense of relationships so complex
offers an analysis that respects complex contexts
Research interests key terms: Co-production, creative methods, creative practice, ethics, LGBTI, plays, poetry, poststructuralism, qualitative methods, queer, queer theory, queer disability studies, transgender / trans studies.
Grants
HASS Faculty KE Award ‘Ethnodrama and Accessibility: International LGBTIQ+ Research Sharing’ 2021/2022 (PI) - £4,860, University of Strathclyde,
British Sociological Association Early Career Forum Event ‘Who’s Here? Who’s Queer?: Making Space for Queer ECRs in Academia’ 2021/2022 (PI) - £1000, University of Strathclyde
ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship ‘International Trans and Intersex Activist Relationships: Ethics, Ethnodrama and Representation’ 2021/2022 (PI) - £122,406, University of Strathclyde
ESRC Studentship (including overseas fieldwork) 2015-2020 - £62,499, University of Glasgow
Scottish Government – Outward Mobility Fund 2015/2016 - £20,000, University of Strathclyde
NUS UK – ‘LGBT Equality in Education’ Research Project 2013/2014 (Co-I) - £250
Higher Education Academy – Student Led Teaching Awards Pilot 2010/2011 - £3000, University of Stirling Students' Union
Professional activities & recognition
Research fellowships
- 2021 - 2022: ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship
- 2015 - 2021: ESRC Studentship
Editorial boards
- 2023: International Journal of Disability and Social Justice
Additional information
Queer Disability Studies Network: Co-founder and co-organiser 2021 - present.
I put on a play created from my research with trans and intersex activists. The play was filmed. Email me to ask about screenings (or to chat ethnodrama as a method).
More info on the play:
As Is, Play,
Researcher/Writer/Producer Dr Harvey Humphrey,
Director: Slater Cain;
July 2022, Scottish Youth Theatre, Glasgow.
This was an in-person performance of the As Is play, an ethnodrama drawn from research interviews with trans, intersex and LGBTI activists across the UK, Malta and Australia (conducted between 2016 and 2018). The play uses composite characters to ethically represent trans, intersex and LGBTI activist relationships. The play surrounds a fictitious proposed bill ‘ASIS’ (drawn from real laws and proposed bills across all the countries) to consider trans and intersex legal recognition. Offering the characters a chance to discuss their work, complex relationships, and the battle for recognition of who they are. This sold-out event was attended by 70 audience members and a cast and crew of 15. There was also a post-show Q&A with Harvey, Slater and three actors. The play was filmed.
Screenings including Q&As with myself (and potentially actors and the Director) can be arranged.