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Staff

Dr Kerry Wilson, ICC Head of Research

AHRC Leadership Fellow 2017-19

Kerry began her academic career in the field of library and information management, holding research posts at Leeds Metropolitan University (2001-03) and the University of Sheffield (2003-08). In this time she specialised in research on the social impact and organisational development of public library services, with funding from the museums libraries and archives council (MLA); British Council; Arts Council of Wales; and Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She moved across to Liverpool in 2008 to take up a part-time lectureship on the MA Cultural Leadership programme at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and ESRC-funded Research Fellowship with the University of Liverpool Management School. She has been with the Institute of Cultural Capital (ICC) since its inception in August 2010, providing academic leadership on behalf of LJMU.

Her main research interests as Head of Research at the ICC include  instrumental value and public policy; professional identity, ethics and values; and cross-sector collaborative practice. Since 2010 she has led a number of research projects on behalf of the institute, funded by the AHRC, North West Development Agency, Arts Council England and National Museums Liverpool, representing these key elements of contemporary cultural work. Her research in the field was recognised by the AHRC in 2017 with the award of a mid-career Leadership Fellowship.

To contact Kerry: k.m.wilson@ljmu.ac.uk

Dr Rafaela Ganga, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Health, LJMU

Rafaela is developing a research and knowledge exchange programme addressing the value of arts and culture at an individual – e.g. mental health and wellbeing – and at a societal level – e.g. social inequalities and urban development.

While Principal Investigator with the ICC (0.2 FTE 2020-24) on the evaluation of the Boroughs of Culture programme, she is contributing to the Liverpool City Region’s cultural policy debate, building upon her work as Co-Investigator of the Impacts 18. Legacies of Liverpool as European Capital of Culture 10 Years On. This work led to a REF Impact Case Study 2021 UoA36.

At an international level, she is researching the same topics with two European Capitals of Culture – Rijeka 2020 and Trenčín 2026. She is working with National Museums Liverpool, Museu Paulista, the University of Sao Paulo and the University of Liverpool to expand the dementia awareness programme, House of Memories, to Brazil as a follow up to her GCRF funding in 2018, and her work as Research Fellow for the Crossing Boundaries project. Rafaela’s work is interdisciplinary focused and embedded across the Faculty of Health EU-Accredited Living Lab and the ICC. An example of her cross-faculty work is the new level 7 module – Arts in Mental Health and Wellbeing (7456AHW) – she designed and led based on her expertise in culture-led dementia care.

To contact Rafaela: r.neivaganga@ljmu.ac.uk

Dr María Castañeyra Ruiz is also working with Rafaela on the evaluation of the Liverpool City Region’s Boroughs of Culture programme,  researching the value of Celebrate Halton, Borough of Culture 2021. Maria is using qualitative research methods with a particular focus on the role of artists and citizens in the programme development and delivery, privileging the collection of in-depth narrative data. Maria graduated in Art History from the University of La Laguna, Tenerife, in 2008. Shortly afterwards, she began her PhD in Physical Anthropology at the same University. Her PhD thesis focused on the ancient aborigines of La Gomera. In 2017, Maria was awarded the Canary Islands Dr Manuel Morales Foundation research grant to carry out her postdoctoral studies in the Liverpool John Moores University Face Lab.

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