Storytelling and practices of orality are fundamental components to Caribbean cultures, both regionally and nationally. Folk characters like Anansi, Compere Lapin, La Diablesse, and the Soucouyant are remembered and retold in the Caribbean and its diasporas through a rich tradition of oral storytelling. Storytelling has not only persisted as a means of connection and entertainment in the Caribbean, but also serves as a ‘methodological [tool] for unsettling colonialities in the twenty-first century’. (read more)

The notion of ‘families of choice’ also conveys a false binary logic that LGBTQ+ adults look to either friends or biological family for support. This project proposes to critically explore the notion of chosen families as a central thread informing our discussions and future proposals. (read more)

Stigma is a major barrier to people being retained in opioid substitution treatment (OST) and recovering from opioid dependency; people who use OST are often stigmatised both for their drug use, as well as the medications they receive (for instance in healthcare settings). People who use crack cocaine and heroin are especially stigmatised and Bristol has a particularly high incidence of people who use both substances concurrently. (read more)

Women who have had female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) often experience life-long consequences in relation to health, wellbeing, and sexual functioning. However, current policy in the UK tends to ignore these needs in favour of policies which seek to protect potential future victims. (read more)

Social media use is now ubiquitous among young people. Learning to navigate social media algorithms is a key skill required to live well in a digitalised 21st century. The ultimate goal of this co-designed intervention would be to empower young people to use social media safely and confidently by minimising exposure to material that may be detrimental to their mental health. (read more)

Following the School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies (SPAIS) model of ‘Decoding Gender in the Media’ and the ‘Decoding Diversity in the Media’ workshops run by SPAIS for local schools, this project developed a session ‘Decoding Migration in the Media’. (read more)

People with hearing often assume that audible language is all that inter-human conversation offers. However, for over 200 years, a community of 'visual humans' – deaf people, or those who experience the world in a predominantly visual way and who communicate in one of the world's natural, visual, sign languages - have sought to persuade the hearing world of the extraordinary potential of a language made of light, crafted by motion, and captured through vision. (read more)

They project’s overarching aim was to explore how we can use intelligent sensing to personalise a health and wellbeing soft robotic device such that this device responds to its user, adapt to their needs and preferences, and yields a satisfactory experience. (read more)

The field of soft robotics has the potential to provide superior alternative modes of communication to address some of these issues. Soft robots are constructed from materials similar to those found in living organisms and can also move and adapt to their surroundings like living things. (read more)