Meet one of our new Directors, Dr Nuala Morse...
What have you been doing today?
Today I had a full day of lectures, as part of the MA Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. I taught a session on text-writing for exhibitions in the morning, and in the afternoon, a session on audience evaluation. It is all part of a module called ‘Engaging Audiences’, during which the students work together to develop, design, and install an exhibition.
Is that a typical day for you?
As an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer), no day is quite alike, but there are two main aspects core to my work. Teaching, which I mostly do as part of the MA Museum Studies. I run a module on designing exhibitions, and a module on learning and engagement in museums where I introduce students to the field of creative health. And research: currently I am developing a number of funding applications, focusing on workforce development and support in ‘museums in health’.
Within the School of Museum Studies, I am the Director of Research, a role focused on delivering an inclusive research culture in our unit. On a day to day, this includes supporting my academic colleagues with grant development. A typical day might also include supervisions of several wonderful PhD students, writing for publications, and keeping up with new research.
When did you start working with culture, health and wellbeing, and how?
My work has mainly engaged with culture, health and wellbeing within a research framework. This has included mixed-methods quasi-experimental research measuring the wellbeing benefits of cultural participation, to wider considerations of the possibilities of the museum as a space of care and the application of care ethics to museum practice.
I started thinking about health and wellbeing as part of my PhD, about 10 years ago, when I was working closely with Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, a museum that has been leading the way in this area, and that continues to inspire. After this I worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof Helen Chatterjee at UCL, on a research project investigating the health and wellbeing impact of museum and gallery activities for people living with dementia, stroke survivors and mental health service users. Since then, it has been a core theme of my research.
https://culturehealthresearch.wordpress.com/not-so-grim-up-north/
https://www.northeastmuseums.org.uk/communities
What was the last project you came across that inspired you?
Last month, I was invited to the Netherlands as part of an event on museums, health and wellbeing, and I had the opportunity to visit the Museum of the Mind and talk to staff. It's a fascinating place that challenges the idea of a 'normal' mind through the history of psychiatry, personal stories, and artist installations. Their programming uses art, culture and mindfulness to confront stigma and exclusions, and build a more inclusive society. It provides rich inspiration for what a museum can do for the care of people's mental health.
Nuala Morse is an Associate Professor in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, UK. Her research examines the ‘care work’ of culture professionals, ethics of care in museum practice, and the wider social role of museums in landscapes of care provision. This includes exploring the links between cultural participation, health, well-being and recovery, with a focus on stroke, mental health and dementia. Another strand of research is focused on equitable museum careers, workforce development, and organisational change in the museum sector. She is the author of The Museum as a Space of Social Care (2021).