Citizenship, Culture & Ethics Hub

What does it mean to be a citizen? Is it as simple as legal rights, or does the idea of being a ‘good citizen’ imply that it’s also a way of living and working ethically? What problems has rhetoric of national belonging and exclusion raised in Scotland and the wider world over time? What ethical questions does citizenship raise, and how do cultural organisations, policy developers and the voluntary sector rise to these challenges?

The KE Hub ‘Culture, Citizenship and Ethics’ explores these questions. We encourage doctoral researchers to reflect on how their work can speak to some of the most pressing ethical questions of the day. Belonging and exclusion, nationalism and regionalism, identities and the power structures that challenge and legitimate them – researchers at Scottish universities contribute so much to understanding these questions, and in turn can learn a lot from our colleagues in the cultural, policy and voluntary sectors.

Along with the other KE Hubs, we put on training sessions, workshops and other opportunities to help researchers reflect on their own positions in these debate and develop skills for engaging in work within and beyond the academy. Our advisory board includes representatives from the British Council, the Scottish Parliament and the Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, and the Hub is run by Dr Catherine Spencer (St Andrews) in collaboration with Prof Karin Friedrich (Aberdeen). 

Please get in touch at catherine.spencer@st-andrews.ac.uk or kehub@st-andrews.ac.uk with any questions. We’d love to hear from you!