This project has been the result of rich interdisciplinary collaborations between the Faculty of Arts & Humanities and the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's, and SOAS. It has cemented strong links across the African Leadership Centre and the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, which continue to develop and flourish, building on this work and award.
Professor Eka Ikpe, Director of the African Leadership Centre
21 January 2025
Arts & Humanities academics honoured at King's Engaged Research Awards
Research projects and individual academics from the Faculty of Arts & Humanities won at the King’s Engaged Research Awards 2025, hosted on 16 January.
Commending the international reach of King’s research
Dr Lauren England and Professor Roberta Comunian, both in the Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries, and Professor Eka Ikpe, African Leadership Centre, won in the Communicating Research (Global) category for their research project Creative Women in Lagos: A Network and Documentary Film.
Creative Women in Lagos focused on female creative entrepreneurs in the Nigerian city, raising awareness of their achievements through a documentary. The project also established a peer network, which provides support for female creative entrepreneurs, and work is ongoing to influence policymaking in the country.
The project celebrates the value of creative collaborations between academics and creative women in fashion, textiles, animation, film, theatre, dance literature, beauty, craft, events and organising sharing their work and stories. The award recognises the importance of knowledge, skills and creative ideas.
Dr Lauren England, Lecturer in Creative Economies
It is wonderful to see collaborative work being recognised by the College, but to be recognised for the global reach of our project is even more important because it allows us to shine a light on a global cultural capital, Lagos, the amazing creative work of women there, and their innovative approaches to addressing the challenges they face.
Professor Roberta Comunian, Professor of Creative Economies
Recognising early career researchers
Dr Ella Parry-Davies, Lecturer in Theatre, Performance and Critical Theory in the Department of English, won in the Outstanding Individual (ECR) category. Her current research includes Survivor Futures, a project providing insights for policymakers and frontline practitioners on the risks and causes of revictimisation for survivors of trafficking and modern slavery, particularly for migrant domestic workers.
It’s great to see the College recognising the wealth of expertise held by communities and individuals outside of academia through these awards. I’m grateful to all those who have brought their energy and knowledge together to enable collaborative research to take place.
Dr Ella Parry-Davies, Lecturer in Theatre, Performance and Critical Theory
About the King's Engaged Research Awards
The King’s Engaged Research Awards celebrate work by King’s academics that has made a difference to people outside the university at local and international levels.
Two other projects from the Faculty were shortlisted for the awards:
- GLOW: Illuminating Innovation (Professor Sarah Atkinson, Department of Culture, Media and Creative Industries), nominated in the Communicating Research (National) category.
- Us and Them (Dr Alana Harris, Department of History), nominated in the Participatory Research (Local) category.
For academics from Arts & Humanities to win in two categories, from around 100 nominees across the College, is a huge achievement and credit to the profound social change achieved by these researchers’ creativity and commitment.
Dr Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, Pro-Vice Dean for Research Impact & Knowledge Exchange
In this story
Professor of Creative Economies
Lecturer in Creative Economies
Director, African Leadership Centre
Lecturer in Theatre, Performance and Critical Theory