2025/26 projects

1.Colonialism and Anti-Colonialism in the Balkan Peninsula: Types, Structures and Cultural Legacies. Project Lead: Dr Adelina Angusheva-Tihanov

Are all colonisations the same? Are they built on the same model and structure? What is similar or different between them? How do cultural and political colonisations differ? Could a culture be colonised without being politically oppressed and vice versa?  Do all the struggles against the colonizers go through the same stages and have the same logic? What role – if any –do the indigenous cultural legacies play in these struggles? How does national myths were created, resurrected and mobilised in the struggles against colonisers?

The project is open to all students who would like to do their own research on these questions by focusing on one specific area, often neglected in the colonialism studies - Balkan peninsula. This geographic area presents many interesting case studies to explore with its complex and heterogeneous cultural histories.

1. Starting with some of the most influential definitions and approaches to colonialism (Said, Osterhammel, Veracini, Go etc), we will soon start looking closely at specific examples – both textual and visual produced in the Balkans before during and after the Ottoman conquest and the demise of Ottoman empire, using some of the rich resources of the John Rylands Library Special Collections.
2. At that points the participants will be able to choose their own research path, explore a particular material to try to answer some of the research questions.
3. For those interested in written cultures of the Balkans the course offers also tutorials in Old Church Slavonic and an opportunity to look at cultural production of the Christian population under the Ottoman dominance, such as for instance, the scribal note on the seventeenth-century Gospel Slav MS.2 in John Rylands Library.
4. Those interesting in visual culture would be able to explore Edward Freeman papers from the same collection, or various relevant images created in and outside Balkans.
5. We will be further looking at the way in which culture myths were resurrected or produced by Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, Montenegrins and others in their anticolonial struggles in the Balkans.

The specific paths of exploration will be led by – YOU, students, and shaped by your specific interests. The academic convenor will be there to help, facilitate and encourage you.

No previous knowledge required, just a desire to discover and learn more.

At the final stage the group will present their findings in poster presentations (to be displayed at Samuel Alexander West wing 4 floor).

Future skills checklist

• Ability to analyse in depth colonial structures and anti-colonial agendas;
• Ability to produce nuanced analysis of the types of colonialisms and their cultural and political impacts;
• Ability to explore independently written and visual sources;
• Ability to analyse in-depth visual sources;
• In-depth knowledge of Balkan cultural legacies;
• Initial skills in studying Old Church Slavonic sources;
• Initial knowledge in OCS palaeography.

2. Animal Biographies. Project Lead: Dr Clara Dawson

How do we tell the stories of animals? What kind of historical and cultural records accompany animals who live on after death in museums or digital collections? This project will explore interdisciplinary research methods for writing animal biographies, with a focus on developing an ethical, empathetic, and imaginative response to animals, dead and alive.

Whilst using a range of academic methods to research animals, students will be invited to produce a public-facing mini digital exhibition, developing their writing skills beyond the usual academic essay. Using animals displayed in Manchester Museum as an inspiration, the project will explore human-animal relations in the context of climate crisis and extinction, and will give you the tools to advocate for animals by enabling a deeper understanding of animal agency and vitality.

Four sessions with the project lead, Dr Clara Dawson, will explore different critical and research methods, including:

• Museum studies and a visit to Manchester Museum to analyse the presentation of animals in the natural history and vivarium sections.
• Multi-species ethnography and an outdoor session in Whitworth Park, using our senses to explore plant and animal life.
• Digital archive research on animals.
• Creative practice research methods and shaping a narrative about animals.

Future skills checklist

• Communication skills;
• Creative/ public-facing writing;
• Digital archive literacy;
• Empathy and active listening;
• Critical thinking;
• Time management;
• Creative thinking;
• Collaboration and teamwork;
• Social responsibility.

3. Unfollow, unfriend, block! Popular cultural representations of the ends of digital ties. Project Lead: Dr Nicholas John

We can all think someone who was one of our very best friends when we were much younger, but who we are not in touch with anymore. Maybe there was a big fall out or a row, but it is much more likely that we simply drifted apart. Perhaps they went to a different school; perhaps we moved to a different part of town. The point is, though, that we did not have to do anything for the friendship to end. On social media, though, things are different. Once you start following someone on Instagram or TikTok, or once someone is your friend on Facebook, the only way for that digitally-mediated tie to end is if someone actively breaks it, by unfollowing, unfriending, or blocking.

In other words, social media have introduced new ways of managing our interpersonal relationships.

As is so often the case when new technologies are widely adopted, the features for online tie management have been discussed and deliberated in a wide range of cultural contexts and forms: songs, books and films have been produced with the word “unfriend” in them; advice columns have been written about the etiquette of breaking online ties; and memes about blocking, unfollowing and unfriending have been distributed around the internet. In addition, gossip columns have started reporting on which celeb was followed by which other celeb (Drake unfollowing Kendrick Lamar was a particularly big story).

Skills you learn

In this project we shall collect data from a range of cultural contexts and forms (memes, news stories, and more) and, after carrying out a content analysis of them, we will ask how these new features for ending interpersonal ties in digital spaces are represented. How can we characterise the popular cultural representations of the ends of digital ties? We shall also try to understand what this means about online relationships more broadly.

4. Ethical uses of AI-based translation in situation of crisis. Project Leads: Dr Catherine Franc and Dr Rebecca Tipton

Natural and man-made disasters can sometimes cross geographical and linguistic boundaries (e.g. the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Translators without Borders 2015); they may also affect an area in which multilingual communities reside, some of whom have already fled disasters elsewhere (e.g. refugees in Turkey impacted by the earthquake in 2023 and forest fires in the summer of 2025).

Recourse to digital translation platforms, including AI-based translation tools, is increasingly favoured as a solution to unplanned translation and interpreting need on a large scale to support efforts on the ground, from search and rescue teams to NGOs who provide medical and other types of support (e.g. the Haiti earthquake in 2010). Back in 2016, Federici recognised the “urgent need to establish a concerted and multidisciplinary debate on the role of intercultural communication in international multilingual missions that respond to emergencies across the world” (2016, 3), a debate which continues today.

We are inviting students of languages and those studying other disciplines with an interest in multilingualism and intercultural communication to participate in a project that explores the use of technology-based translation (and interpreting) resources in crisis situations with particular emphasis on ethics.

By taking part in this project you will:

• conduct a literature review of translation and interpreting in crisis situations;
• collect and critically evaluate media narratives of digital translation tools circulating in the public domain;
• explore the work of organisations such as Doctors without Borders and Translators without Borders;
• identify matters to do with equity, inclusivity and diversity in accessing and using translation tools;
• reflect on the importance of inter-cultural competencies required for efficient use of translation technologies and managing live volunteer and professional input in the field;
• devise criteria for testing AI-based tools for translation/interpreting based on a country case study of your choice;
• discuss the real-world application of these skills with a panel of academics and professionals working in crisis translation and (international) disaster management.

Skills you learn

You will develop your academic research skills, practical-problem solving skills and deepen your understanding of the affordances and potential limitations of AI-based tools in crisis situations. Your participation will enhance your critical thinking skills in a context in which social responsibility for the ethical use of technology merits further scrutiny.

5. Constructing the Inclusive Classroom: Narratives of Disabled and Neurodivergent Students. Project Lead: Ms Gaëlle Flower

At the University of Manchester, more than 19% of students identify as disabled. Within this group, many are also neurodivergent, meaning they experience and process learning in ways that differ from “typical” expectations. Too often, support is reduced to exam accommodations like extra time or rest breaks, when what’s really needed is a deeper shift in how teaching and learning are designed. 

This project invites disabled and neurodivergent students to become researchers of their own experiences. Under mentorship, you will: 

• Develop your own research questions about disability, neurodiversity, and learning at university;
• Choose methods that work for you - i.e. retrospective autoethnography, creative or digital storytelling approaches;
• Collect and analyse data on topics such as: transition into higher education, classroom and independent learning, communication with peers and staff, navigating campus spaces, and assessment practices;
• Share findings and propose solutions to make teaching, assessment, and university support more inclusive and accessible.

The aim is not only to document lived experiences, but to co-create strategies that benefit the whole student community. This project contributes to Manchester’s commitment to research-led teaching and an excellent student experience, while giving you hands-on research skills that connect directly to academic and professional development. 

Together, we will explore how inclusive practices - supported by technology, AI, and staff training - can transform classrooms into spaces that work for everyone from the outset.

In short: this is about students leading research to shape real change in how the university teaches, supports, and includes its diverse community.

6. Bees and Bucket Hats: The Uses and Abuses of the Past in Manchester. Project Lead: Dr Emily Jones

What is history for? This project will focus on Manchester, a city once associated with urban decline and the ‘inner city crisis’ of the 1970s, and the ways in which its industrial, cultural, and political past has been invoked to assert that ‘we do things differently here’ and thus promote new policies and initiatives. We will ask which stories and figures have been made to represent Manchester, when, and how, as well as what these stories can tell us about place, identity, and policy justification in the recent past - but also which histories are altered or left out in the process. By focusing on the imaginative and creative role that history has played in Britain, this project decentres the notion that history is ‘traditional’, ‘separate’, and mineable only for ‘lessons’ - and therefore challenging perceptions of what ‘history’ is for, and the purposes it still serves today.

In seeking to change perspectives on the value of humanities-based methods, the project offers an innovative and interdisciplinary, and humanities-led approach to innovation and problem-solving, while meeting contemporary needs for critical thinking and analysis in how the past is used to justify the present. It builds on burgeoning interest in the origins of our leading political ideologies and traditions and how they have adapted (or not) over time, reception studies, and local developments in Greater Manchester, including the rising prominence of the ‘worker bee’ emblem and the return of Manchester Fashion Week (framed within a narrative of the city’s textile heritage), while meeting contemporary needs for more creativity, imagination, and vision in the ways in which we imagine our local, national, and international futures. Hence this project is not just for historians, but for any student interested in the creative representation and power of the past to shape ideas and enact change.

Skills you learn

Students will develop a research project based on a particular theme—whether it be industry, the ‘bee’, football, bucket hats, radical histories (Peterloo, Pankhursts, etc), or any number of other topics. Students will produce a short, conversational, podcast-style presentation and a policy-facing blog post (for, e.g., Policy@Manchester or LSE British Politics and Policy). By participating in this project, students will gain experience in critically examining the use of history, and historic figures, for a varied set of purposes and the role of the past in shaping identities, policy, and as a tool of legitimation. As a result, students will deepen their existing skills in critical thinking, media and political analysis, but also consider the constructive and imaginative role that the past has and can play in a contemporary world faced with significant problems.

7. Mediation in Action: Building Bridges Across Disciplines. Project Lead: Dr Susana Lorenzo-Zamorano

What does it mean to act as a mediator in today’s world? It’s more than just translating between languages. According to the Council of Europe (CoE), mediation is the ability to act “as a social agent who creates bridges and helps to construct or convey meaning” (CoE 2020: 90), facilitating communication and cooperation. In this project, you will explore this powerful idea: how we can help people with different perspectives, backgrounds, or areas of expertise to understand one another by making meaning accessible and reshaping knowledge for new audiences.

Grounded in the Council of Europe's influential framework, this project is both theoretical and practical. As a participant, you will:

• Investigate the core concepts of mediation: You will start by exploring how the Council of Europe defines mediation, focusing on its three key areas: mediating texts, mediating concepts, and mediating communication.
• Apply theory to practice: You will explore how these concepts can be applied not only in language learning but also in broader academic and professional contexts, from your own degree to future careers.
• Design and create: Building on this foundation, you will work collaboratively with peers from different disciplines to design your own creative, hands-on activities that bring mediation to life for other students, demonstrating how we can build bridges between people and ideas.

Skills you learn

This project will encourage you to think about your role as a mediator in society today. By taking part, you will develop valuable skills in collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills that are vital for exercising social responsibility and becoming an engaged global citizen. More than just a research exercise, this is a chance to experiment with new ways of fostering dialogue and understanding, while also contributing something practical and lasting to the wider student community.

If you are interested in how language, culture, and knowledge interact, and want to make a tangible contribution to inclusive and innovative learning, this project provides a unique platform to do so. Join us!

8. First in Family Students and Higher Education. Project Lead: Dr Peter O'Connor

While the rate of 18-year-olds going into higher education reached a peak of 38.2% in 2021, it remained above 35% through to 2024. This is over 10% higher than in 2006. Yet these statistics don’t tell the whole story. Simply getting access to university isn’t the end point of higher education. It’s also necessary for students to be able to engage with their course and institution as well as to reach the outcome they envisioned when they decided to undertake further study.

In terms of both the expansion of numbers and the ability to engage, progress has been uneven across society. This project is particularly concerned with one group who’ve seemingly not felt the full benefit of the expansion of the student body- first in family students. While it may be more likely that someone will be the first in their family to go university, it’s also true that they will be less likely to attend a Russell Group institution and more likely to drop out than their peers. What is it about their higher education experience that accounts for this fact?

This project will ask you to conduct research into first in family students within UK higher education by considering a several key questions:

• What does it feel like to be a fist in family student in the UK?
• How do people feel/behave on-campus in comparison to back at home?
• Does first in family status matter for the degree they study?
• How about the university they chose to attend?
• In which ways do subjects and/or institutions need to reform what they are doing?

The project is intended as the initial stage of a larger ongoing investigation into the issue of first in family status and university access with a particular focus on the different ways that humanities and science degrees are understood. Because this is preliminary research, I’m happy to work with students to develop a specific approach that they are passionate about. I’m also not looking to funnel everything into a predetermined final point. That means that if you want to start digging into the stats, you’re welcome but I’d be equally happy to hear from those looking to record their own experiences in writing!

9. Anatomy of a Film: Research Partnerships in Industry Practice and Production. Project Lead: Professor Ian Scott

Core aims

Led by a BAFTA-winning filmmaker and a leading academic working inside and out of the industry, Anatomy of a Film is a research unit aimed at writing, filmmaking and production for anyone with an interest in developing their skills and talent for a career in the creative economy. In using a variety of traditional textual as well as primary materials from actual productions the aim is to immerse students in a testing creative environment across the breadth of the unit.

The research question being examined is how practice-led research can lead to creative realisation, design and delivery of a project without having to take part in a placement.

The course is aimed at talented and enthusiastic UGs in any programme, offering pedagogic and research opportunities that would be an ideal grounding for moves into PG academic and creative practice training and qualification.   

Research outcomes

• To develop an interdisciplinary model of creative practice and industrial structures involved in bringing a motion picture/TV series from concept to the screen.
• To engage scholastically as well as creatively with source material that informs industry practice and how political, cultural, and social contexts provide the influence and uniqueness behind artistic practice and creativity. 
• To further students’ analytical and interpretive skills, using original sources that they are introduced to throughout the module as well as practical skills honed through the study of one facet of the filmmaking process.
• To acquire knowledge of how large-scale production projects are managed and driven towards successful realisation.

Syllabus (indicative curriculum content):

Meetings 1 and 2

Research History/Context/Setting – critical and practice-based perspectives

Readings include:

• Stephen Greenwald and Paula Landry, The Business of Film: A Practical Introduction (3rd Ed) (Abingdon: Routledge, 2022);
• Katie Razzell, “How can traditional British TV survive the US streaming giants?”, BBC in Depth, 14 May 2025.;
• Peter Biskind, Pandora’s Box: The Greed, Lust, and Lies that broke television (London: Penguin, 2024);
• Andrew Rausch, Generation Tarantino: The Last Wave of Young Turks in Hollywood (London: Bloomsbury, 2025). 

Meetings 3 and 4

Research Team Workshops leading to final presentation

• Research team one
  
  Pre-Production: coming up with a groundbreaking original story; how to sell an idea; the art of the pitch; development and financing (creation of a budget); an idea transformed into a script; the attachment of key players (producer, director, stars); scheduling; securing the funds necessary to make a movie, soft, kickstart etc.
• Research team two
  
  Production: assembling a film crew; managing large teams and understanding the chain of command; what does a production consist of; how to make the most of budget/people/studio/locations; The wow factor – Short vs. Feature films and how to attract word of mouth/distribution deals etc; what defines a groundbreaking feature that stands the test of time; the delicate balance between creative vs. commercial impulses.

Research structure and challenges

You will be on one of two research teams in the unit, eventually producing a research outline via written, oral, and/or media presentation (i.e. podcast/short video) for a single new project. The two teams will liaise with each other and with the project leaders to create a seamless idea/story/production schedule. You do not need to write a full script nor film all or any of the final proposal. But you will be required to submit a ‘production notebook’ of the above elements demonstrating background research – academic and creative - and the reasons for how/why the project could be sold in the marketplace.

The research challenge is to put into practice your existing research skills from your respective disciplinary backgrounds together with the knowledge you acquire in the unit while working towards a discrete part of a film’s production, the pre- or production phase, with a view to creating an original output in an industry-based practice setting.   

Personnel

• Project lead - Ian Scott: Scott is Professor of American Film and History and author of several books on Hollywood film and history. He was script editor and contributor to the award-winning ARTE/PBS documentary, Projections of America in 2016 as well as Los Angeles: Stories from the City in 2024; was nominated for Broadcast Programme of the Year for his Radio 4 series, The Californian Century in 2020, and has recently guested on several episodes of the podcast, Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever.
• Industry Liaison - Mike Knowles: Knowles is an independent producer best known for 2016 drama, Away, with Timothy Spall and Juno Temple. His other feature films include A Boy Called Dad starring Ian Hart, selected for the Rome Film Festival in 2009 and purchased by the BBC, Best Laid Plans (2012, Sony Pictures) starring Stephen Graham, Maxine Peake, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and the mystery horror film The Messenger (2016, Metrodome), with Robert Sheehan, Lily Cole, and Joely Richardson. He produced Book of Love (2022) starring Sam Claflin and Veronica Echugui which was No.2 on Amazon in the US and won the Imagen Film Award. Knowles won a BAFTA for his 2004 short film, Talking with Angels. He also holds a PhD on film production and practice within education.

10. Generative AI - what does machine learning do in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures? Project Lead: Dr Katja Stuerzenhofecker

As ever, the University of Manchester is very ambitious “to position our institution at the forefront of modern AI-enhanced educational methodologies, while ensuring ethics and inclusivity in learning” (Teaching and Learning Strategy Group of the UoM AI Transformation Programme).

In this project, students are invited to contribute to this ambitious strategy by critically reflecting on the present and future of higher education in the light of technological change. Using SALC and its subjects as a starting point, student-generated case studies will evaluate benefits, risks, limitations and future potential of Generative AI for research, and for learning, teaching and assessment.

For their case studies, students will choose from SALC subjects and aspects of GenAI such as its drivers, environmental impact, ethics in research and education, opportunities for and threats to accessibility and employment, data management, and human cognitive skills and decision-making. This project will develop students’ understanding of theories of knowledge, social change, and the politics of technology.

Students will research a range of GenAI tools that relate to common SALC assessment formats in order to consider current (ab)uses of GenAI in higher education and future developments. Students can undertake an evaluation of the quality of GenAI in comparison with their own outputs for project-related tasks such as:

• Literature search, literature review and annotated bibliography;
• Presentation (e.g. oral, poster, video, timeline, infographics, exhibition);
• Learning Log;
• Exploring the use of GenAI for their case studies will give students practical experience of issues related to access and data management.

Bringing the subject-specific case studies together, the group will formulate recommendations for students and staff in SALC and across the University.

The choice of project outputs for students to contribute to will include a collection of case studies with the option for public-facing online publication, and a co-authored presentation and/or posters at the University of Manchester Teaching and Learning Conference 2025-26.