The idea for a collaboration between the Cultural Studies programmes at Kent and the creative environment of The Margate School started my relationship with TMS, and is what led to the idea of my residency. The timelines of universities are often slow, but my new undergraduate module, the Creative Project in Cultural Studies, is finally up and running, and following the module registration period now has students on it.
The module is aimed at allowing students who are so inclined, to produce something different from the traditional dissertation. It gives them the option to combine an academic research project with a more creative and public-facing approach to presentation and representation. They can produce a zine, podcast, artwork, film, poster, exhibition, performance, graphic novel or anything else that we are able to facilitate – whatever medium is best to address and present the social issues or questions they are researching.
As part of their programme, the students on this module get a 3 month funded residency at The Margate School in spring 2024 – access to the building and space to work, facilities and tools, expertise and skills development. This collaboration also gets them off-campus and into the very different cultural environment of Thanet, of TMS’s experimental spaces, and of a postgraduate institution.
While this kind of model is fairly commonplace in other countries and institutions, for Kent this module is an experimental approach. The students registered from September will get something we’ve never been able to offer before, and something I hope builds links for the future.