Impact & Opinions | Tionchar & Tuairimí

Creative Galway

Science brought to life through comedy improv, lives transformed by medical research, sexual consent data captured in theatre—these are just a few of the ways in which University of Galway is innovating research and education.

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Creative Galway
11 January 2023
11  MINS

Making a Cultural Galway

Dr. Patrick Collins

Creativity as an aspirational goal has found its way into policy and popular discourse in recent years. It is a goal that, according to Patrick Collins – University of Galway Lecturer and author of the upcoming Galway: Making a Capital of Culture – requires a historical, cultural and geographical context. While Galway boasts a rich creative economy, here Patrick asks: does it have the capacity to support young creatives to make new types of culture in the future?

Feature image:

Artist: Galway Community Circus.
Performance/event: LifeLine.
Photographer: Emilija Jefremova.

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Creative Galway
10 January 2023
14  MINS

Earth Writings: A Toolkit for The Climate Crisis

Dr Nessa Cronin

What makes the knowledge systems of the arts and humanities uniquely valuable in addressing our current planetary predicament? Lecturer Dr Nessa Cronin brings together artists, academics, scientists and community activists to explore this key question. Together with her collaborators, she has created a creative toolkit in Earth Writings—a critical and inquisitive lens through which to navigate the climate emergency—the impact of which is now reaching classrooms across numerous disciplines.

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Creative Galway
15 December 2022
24  MINS

In Conversation: Ikenna Anyabuike

Meadhbh McNutt

University of Galway student, Ikenna Anyabuike, is an actor, writer, assistant dramaturg and one half of the musical duo, ARMCANDY. Ikenna was awarded the ‘Baptiste Programme’ with Smock Alley in 2022, the ‘Axis Assemble 2022’ with Axis Ballymun and the ‘Irish Seed Grant’ by the Irish Hospice Foundation for an upcoming collaboration with visual artist Maclaine Black (2023). He also performs as part of an ensemble for the play ‘The Kinds of Sex You Might Have in College’ with Active* Consent.

A graduate of Drama and Theatre Studies, Ikenna is continuing his studies in 2023 with a postgraduate programme in Creative Arts Management at University of Galway. We sat down with the artist to talk through his creative process and his thoughts on education.

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Creative Galway
15 December 2022
15  MINS

Laughing to Learn

Dr. Jessamyn Fairfield

Why might a Lecturer in Physics at University of Galway go about training hundreds of academics to perform comedy around their research? According to Bright Club Ireland founder Dr Jessamyn Fairfield, comedy is a creative process, a remixing of stories with the aim of flipping one’s perspective and piercing through the tension of a watchful audience. With the toolkit of improv comedy in hand, Jessamyn is building confidence, connection and innovative learning methods among a variety of academic fields.

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Creative Galway
15 December 2022
12  MINS

Telling the Story of Sexual Consent in Ireland

Dr Charlotte McIvor

We need to change national conversations around sexual consent; creativity makes that possible, says Dr Charlotte McIvor.

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Creative Galway
12 December 2022
14  MINS

Imagining the Creative University

Professor Rebecca Braun

Waning confidence in progress narratives and declining imaginative capacity, among other factors, have led us to what national policy advisor and professor, Geoff Mulgan calls “a deficit of social imagination”. At the heart of this crisis, as articulated by Professor Rebecca Braun, is the need to imagine alternative ways of being on a collective scale, through the circulation of knowledge. If universities, as knowledge communities, are to play a major role in this quest, how might the creative university of the future operate?

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Creative Galway
15 December 2022
16  MINS

In Conversation: Stephen Dooley

Meadhbh McNutt

Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming platform, serving 456 million users with access to songs and podcasts from artists across the globe.  

Alum Stephen Dooley is both an independent musician and an Engineering Manager at Spotify. He recently played at Éalú Le Grá Festival as one half of London-based house duo, Delac. We sat down to ask Stephen about his thoughts on making music, studying at University of Galway and the influence of Spotify on the music industry today.  

Image: Original photograph by Alex Waespi (alexandrawaespi.com), design by Unthink.

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Creative Galway
06 June 2023
15  MINS

What Makes Us Empathetic? Test Layout

Bernadine Brady, Conn Holohan

While there is evidence to suggest that empathy is on the decline in society, using varied methodologies, researchers at University of Galway are exploring new ways to counter these trends. Dr Bernadine Brady was Principal Investigator in a recent study at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre (UCFRC) assessing the attitudes of 700 12–16-year-olds in Ireland on empathy, social values and civic behaviour. In Immersive Empathy, Principal Investigator Dr Conn Holohan and his colleagues are investigating empathy through a different lens, empowering clients of Galway Simon to tell their life stories and reflections on homelessness through oral history and virtual reality.

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