Latest news from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ

7 Aug 2015

Participants wanted to share experiences of 2011 Birmingham riots

A º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ student is looking for participants to take part in a new research study which explores the events of the Birmingham Riots in 2011.

PhD student Sophie-Louise Hyde, School of the Arts, English and Drama, aims to gather informal interviews from witnesses to gain a deeper insight and transform the voices of Birmingham’s community into poetry.

The study will result in a new and original collection of verbatim poetry that is representative of the engaged communities. Ideal candidates for the study may have worked, lived or been in the city during the events in August 2011.

Sophie comments: “I want to talk and really listen to those members of the city’s community who were involved in or affected by these events and understand their stories. I want to do their stories justice in this poetry collection and I want to transform their voices in this new and original way.

“I hope that this collection will do something to address the under-representation within the media of those individuals and communities affected by the riots. I also hope to engage more people with poetry and literature by being more accessible to, and characteristic of, the communities it represents.”

Informal interviews will be held from Monday 10 August 2015 onwards and will last no longer than 30 minutes. These can be arranged to suit the participant.

Participants must be aged 18 or over and have experience of the 2011 riots as a direct result of living, working or being in the Birmingham area.

Participants can withdraw at any time and all information shared will remain anonymous. This study has been given full ethical clearance by º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ’s Ethical Clearance Sub-Committee.

If you are interested in helping by taking part in the study, please send your contact details and a few sentences about your experiences to Sophie-Louise Hyde at s.hyde3@lboro.ac.uk

Notes for editors

Article reference number: 15/154

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

Contact for all media enquiries

Sophie Walker

Communications Officer

E: S.E.J.Walker@lboro.ac.uk

T: 01509 222224