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Conflict and Creativity
Evaluating the potential of the Ulster Museum’s Troubles and Beyond collection in fostering creative thinking skills in young people.
The research aims to investigate ways in which museums operating in divided societies can use their collections to support the development of creativity and open-mindedness in young people.
The project will focus on young people aged 11-14 from across different religious, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and their engagement with the Ulster Museum’s Troubles and Beyond and Troubles Art collections.
The study seeks to address the gap in understanding around how museum education can be designed to influence the development of the skills that are likely to lead to greater levels of social cohesion. Research activity will include the implementation of a pilot study in the community (within ‘Innovation zones’ identified by Queen’s University), which will be evaluated to assess its effectiveness in developing creative skills and open-mindedness in the young participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The findings of the research will contribute to the expansion of the Ulster Museum’s Troubles-related learning programmes, and have a direct impact on how we measure the success of our wider engagement programme. The project will provide the research support needed to fulfil our ambition to create a world-leading learning programme in the area of conflict and legacy at the Ulster Museum.
Ultimately, it is hoped that the theoretical and practical learning from this research could have an international impact on how museums in areas of conflict, or post-conflict can harness the potential of their collections to have a positive impact on children and young people.
Lead Supervisor
