Current Large Grant Projects

Heritage on the Hill: community engagement through student-led oral history projects

Led by Jade Hunter (School of Society and Environment)

Originally built to house people displaced by the Second World War, the Harold Hill estate in Havering now has significant pockets of deprivation. This project celebrates the rich, evolving history of Harold Hill’s community.

At the heart of this work are students from Drapers’ Academy secondary school. They will be taught how to collect, preserve and present community stories. Students and QMUL academics will then publish these stories both in a book and on a webpage. This will be the start of a living archive of the community and showcasing the estate’s historical importance. The community will be invited to a book launch event to celebrate this work and the community’s history.

This project is led by Jade Hunter (School of Society and Environment), alongside Dr Alison Blunt and in partnership with Judith Garfield (Executive Director of Eastside Community Heritage) and Jamie Shields (Vice Principal of Drapers’ Academy). Eastside Community Heritage will support students’ oral history training.

Project Partners

• Eastside Community Heritage
• Drapers' Academy

In Living Memory: archiving, learning and mobilising against racism in East London

Led by Dr Adam Elliot-Cooper (School of Society and Environment)

This project will explore and archive histories of community-based organising against racism and fascism in East London. 

Student researchers will be trained in community outreach and will work  with grassroots collectives and multi-generational movements to collect the many stories of ordinary people’s struggles, resistance, and connection. These stories, alongside photographs and objects, will be brought together into a living archive of these neighbourhoods.

The work on this project will help identify new ways to link local histories with international politics, as well as making sure that knowledge and understanding of political struggles is shared with the communities that lived them.

This project is led by Dr Adam Elliott-Cooper (School of Society and Environment) alongside Dr Sharri Plonski (School of Society and Environment), Dr Tanzil Chowdhury (School of Law), and Rosa Dunn (Rich Mix). 

Project Partners

• Rich Mix
• Swadhinata Trust
• Nijjormanush
• Pelican House
• Cable Street Trust

Creative Resilience: engaging young people in London and Brazil in the development of mental health research during the Climate Crisis

Led by Professor Paul Heritage (School of the Arts), Director of People's Palace Projects

Working with young people in South and East London, Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, and peripheral communities in Fortaleza, this project addresses the intersection of the climate crisis and youth mental health.

Across the three locations, the project will bring together young people, researchers, and local artists to share their experiences, reflect on issues affecting their quality of life, and shape community action on mental health and climate change. This work will be done through three activities: “Long Table” performance events, rap or slam poetry workshops, and film screenings.

This project is led by Professor Paul Heritage (School of the Arts), alongside Rosie Hunter (Executive Director, People's Palace Projects) and Mayra Mota (People’s Palace Projects do Brasil).

Project Partners

• People's Palace Projects
• Toynbee Hall
• Rich Mix
• Battersea Arts Centre
• Redes da Maré (Mare favela community NGO)
• Manguinhos & City of God favela Residents’ Associations (Rio de Janeiro)

Kitchen Fragrance: sensory politics of making food and home on an Indian Ocean coastline

Led by Dr Niranjana Ramesh (School of Society and Environment)

Working with a team of 10 local artists and photographers, this project will explore societal and cultural attitudes to sensory experiences of the Coromandel Coast in southeastern India, aiming to address stigmatisation and marginalisation of fish-work.

Local fisherwomen participating in the project will take part in art and photography training, inviting them to document and self-narrate their stories, lives and livelihoods, and empowering them in advocating for social and environmental justice.

The project will culminate in interactive exhibitions of co-produced photography and hand-drawn artwork that narrates the “coastal kitchen”, taking place in fisher community centres in villages and towns, as well as exhibitions in Chennai and Puducherry.

This project is led by Dr Niranjana Ramesh (School of Society and Environment), in partnership with Dr Bhagath Singh Arunachalam (French Institute of Pondicherry), artist Anthoni Guruz and photographer Palani Kumar and the ‘People’s Photography Collective’.

Project Partners

• French Institute of Pondicherry
• Anthoni Guruz (Artist)
• People's Photography Collective

Workshops with Palestinian artists & community on ethical journalism and state crime

Led by Dr Thomas MacManus (School of Law)

This project will explore ethical journalism and the role of the media in framing state crime through theatre. Working in partnership with Shadow World Investigations and BÉZNĂ Theatre, the project will bring together researchers, Palestinian and migrant artists, theatre-makers and community groups. Through workshops, the groups will co-create a new theatre text looking at the media’s role in shaping public perception to the genocide in Gaza, particularly during the period of October 2023-October 2024.

This project is led by Dr Thomas MacManus (School of Law), in partnership with Shadow World Investigations and BÉZNĂ Theatre.

Project partners

• BÉZNĂ Theatre
• Shadow World Investigations