Kemal Ahson

Ansioluettelo

My research interests include examining arts-based (critical) pedagogies and imagination, cultural heritage, identity and inclusion, the public engagement and participation in science and technology, and exploring the use of 'space' and 'place' in different learning and societal contexts. Methodologically, I am interested in arts-based practices (ABPs) and emotional cartography.

I am the PI and Research Coordinator for the EU Horizon funded Cultural Literacies’ Value in Europe (CLiViE) project which develops and applies a Theory of Change (ToC) methodology and Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework to increase our understanding of the value of cultural literacy through arts-based education on social cohesion.

More generally, I am interested in the cultural, spatial, and temporal aspects of 'big data', including investor behaviour around crypto currencies. And I have a particular interest in 'travelling theories', 'circuits of care', and the 'radical otherness of children'.

I have published several books within the context of developing a ‘post-colonial literature for children’ – ‘The Magic Necklace’ links the life of a young girl in South Asia to the history (herstory?) of the Mughals, and 'Crossing Paths' explores how people and places were seemingly connected during the Second World War. I have also co-created a comic book (an adaptation of the Twelve Labours of Hercules) which encourages children's interest in mathematics through (in?) stories. My latest book, ‘The Hakim’, tells the story of the tensions within and between modern (western) and unani medicine during the British Raj (due out in early 2025).

My PhD, from University College London (UCL), examined innovation in biotechnology – in economic, epistemological, geographical, and ontological terms.

As an aside, I still work internationally in economic development, public procurement, innovation, and technology transfer (see www.lifeworld.info). In addition, I am a trustee of a London-based arts charity (www.bridging-arts.org.uk).