Project Description

The research will explore the communities that are produced by the existence and activities of large, international festivals, and the organisations that facilitate them. It will consider the type of communities that are formed and sustained, their ontological nature, the manner in which they are made, and the interrelationships between them. This study will not only consider the highly visible annual output of the Fringe itself, but will equally focus on the processes and practises of production, both formal and informal, that go into its delivery. In so doing, the study will provide greater understanding of how such organisations influence the public sphere, create values, and shape social relationships not only through their intended outputs, but through all of their activities.

Partners

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Student Name

Katey Warran

Academic History

2007-2010, BA Philosophy and Biblical Studies, The University of Sheffield

2010-2011, CertHE Professional Stage Management, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

2015-2017, MSc Performance Science, Royal College of Music

Supervisors

Dr Lisa McCormick, University of Edinburgh

David Stevenson, Queen Margaret University

In association with Lyndsey Jackson, Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society

Research Interests

Katey’s research focuses on the production of ‘community’ at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, for example examining the type of communities that are formed and sustained, their ontological nature, the manner in which they are made, and the interrelationships between them. This subject matter draws on Katey’s interdisciplinary background which spans philosophy, theatre, education, community studies, public health, arts-in-heath, music and performance science. 

Drawing on her experiences of working on studies exploring the benefits of group singing for those affected by cancer, Katey is interested in how complex social contexts can promote creativity and contribute to wellbeing. In particular, Katey is interested in exploring how different methodological approaches can be used to gain knowledge about multifaceted real-world contexts. For her research with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Society, she is excited to explore how combining ethnographic and phenomenological approaches may help to further understand the communities formed at festivals and the interrelationships between them.

Previous Research Projects

Katey has a wealth of empirical research experience having coordinated a major study at the Centre for Performance Science in London (a partnership of the Royal College of Music and Imperial College, London) led by Dr Daisy Fancourt exploring the benefits of singing for those affected by cancer. In her role, she managed large-scale recruitment and collation of quantitative and qualitative data, and worked across public health, community and arts settings. 

In addition, Katey has supported arts-in-health research projects at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where she managed a programme of over 700 performing arts events per year to achieve clinical outcomes for patients and relatives. She also continues to work in the field of arts-in-health as Coordinator for the Arts Health Early Career Research Network, bringing together early career researchers working on projects that lie at the intersection of the arts, humanities, health and medicine.

Scholarships

Elmley Foundation Small Grant Award 2015-2017 (contribution for MSc in Performance Science

Elmley Foundation Small Grant Award 2011-2012 (contribution for training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School)

Lionel Bart Foundation Bursary 2010-2011 (contribution for training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School)

Publications

Fancourt, D., & Warran, K. (in preparation). Singing for Cancer: Implications from Psychoneuroimmunology. In Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Research in Singing: Volume III Well-being. Routledge.

Heydon, R., Fancourt, D., & Cohen, A. (Eds.). (in preparation). Routledge Companion to Interdisciplinary Research in Singing: Volume III Well-being. Routledge. (assisting with the editing of this volume.)

30 Aug – Sept 2017, An exploration of the process of group singing for male cancer patients: A phenomenological study. International Symposium on Performance Science, Reykjavik Iceland (poster presentation) 

28 June 2017, Singing for cancer: results from psychological, biological and phenomenological studies. Association for Medical Humanities Annual Conference 2017, Keele UK (spoken presentation)

Fancourt, D., & Poon, M. (2016). Validation of the Arts Observational Scale (ArtsObS) for the evaluation of performing arts activities in health care settings. Arts & Health, 8(2), 140–153. (supported data collection)

First published: 3 October 2017