I am founding director of the Institute for Social Justice, which works across the University to facilitate social justice research, projects and partnerships that help create a fairer society. We seek to develop a participatory and co-productive research culture within the University. At its core the Institute seeks to work with people, with partners and with communities in a manner that sees participation, implementation and change as vital parts of its mission. For further information visit www.yorksj.ac.uk/ISJ
My own research focuses on participatory research in the arts, including in the context of learning disabilities and autism, theatre for children, audience research, performance documentation and political performance. My work employs creative methodologies to explore the experiential and affective qualities of the arts. For further information visit www.matthewreason.com
Throughout this activity I have a strong commitment to epistemic justice and to the role of universities and arts-based research to enabling and amplifying marginalised and under-represented voices and lived experiences.
I am currently working on 'Imagining our Futures', an AHRC-funded project which will use inclusive creative arts practice to develop futures thinking approaches in collaboration with people with learning disabilities. Futures thinking is the systematic harnessing of the imagination to develop tangible solutions that improve people's lives. As a practice driven by social equity, futures thinking asks 'Who gets to imagine the future?' This project is motivated by recognition that people with learning disabilities are structurally excluded from imagining and designing how our world might be. Imagining our Futures is conducted in partnership with Open Theatre Company and their community of learning disabled and autistic artists.
This work develops from 'I'm Me', a two year AHRC funded project which worked with over 100 learning disabled artists across a network of seven arts organisations to explore themes relating to identity, representation and voice. For further information visit www.yorksj.ac.uk/Im-me
