Staff involved in RiCH currently work in the areas of Broadcasting and Journalism, Creative and Professional Writing, Cultural Studies, English, European Studies, Film, Media and Communications, Philosophy, and Public Relations.
RiCH has proved itself as an inclusive and mutually supportive group of researchers that is ideally placed to build bridges, not only between subject areas, but also between researchers on different steps of the experience ladder.
There is some overlap in terms of staff involvement with the cluster in Critical and Creative Production and the Centre for Transnational and Transcultural Research, although RiCH sees itself as more open to new researchers from a greater variety of subject areas and its very nature as a cluster makes for fluctuations in membership/affiliation.
Shared staff involvement is turned to mutual advantage in terms of sharing research ideas, exchanging information regarding e.g. conference and grant opportunities, international links (some, like Germany, France and Bulgaria already in existence) and research collaborations that might otherwise not happen.
The cluster aims to present a regular open seminar series with papers given by staff, outside speakers and post-graduate students. It also organises regular workshops to encourage staff new to research and to provide mentoring by more experienced colleagues; hold round table discussions about topics of mutual interest in order to generate and develop research ideas; increase expertise and involvement with post-graduate supervision.
RiCH aims to work with appropriate colleagues in the School to increase grant applications and develop the skills to write these successfully; after starting modestly, perhaps with applications for conference funding, staff could go on to work with e.g. Sylvia Haycox in the Graduate School on more ambitious projects. At this stage, colleagues may be ready to move into research centres or institutes.
RiCH sees itself very much as a seedbed that prepares colleagues for the most appropriate expression of their achievement. It has the potential to contribute to a large number of UoAs. RiCH staff teach on many of the Schools MA programmes and could (with appropriate support) offer PhD supervision in attractive areas.
Read more about past and future RiCH events.
