AHC PGRE 2026
Since 2011 we have been running the Undergraduate Research Experience to celebrate the excellence of our students in the Faculty of Arts Arts, Humanities and Cultures.
At the December 2024 AHC Student Advisory Board meeting a student mentioned that they loved the idea of the UGRE and asked why isn't there one for our Postgraduate students. So here we are…
On Tuesday 9 June 2026 we are going to be running our inaugural Postgraduate Research Experience (PGRE) on campus, featuring presentations by Taught Postgraduate, MA by Research and PGRs.
The PGRE will be an informal event, so not like a “normal” academic conference. You can stay for a session (one-hour long), or for the whole day - it's up to you! It will be a great opportunity to see what's going on across the Faculty. You might find someone in a completely discipline researching a similar topic to you, or you might find an interest in a completely new area!
You can attend as many sessions as you wish, drop in for one session, or stay the whole day! In order for us to know numbers for catering, please register your attendance here.
PGRE2026 PROGRAMME, Tuesday 9 June
To see all the abstracts in one place, please check out our PGRE2026 Programme .
09:30-10:00 Registration - Michael Sadler LG10
10:00-10.15 Welcome and Opening Remarks - Michael Sadler LG15
Welcome: Professor Luke Windsor, Dean of the Leeds Doctoral College
10:15-11:30 - Session One - Michael Sadler LG15
Chair: Dr Aled Thomas, Lecturer in Religious Studies
Adam Dockray, Media & Communication
In the Grim Darkness of the Far Future There is Only Woke: The Reactionary Politics of Warhammer 40k Fandom
Udita Nag, English
The Politics of Marriage in Restoration Comedy: A Comparative Digital Study
Helena MacCormack, PCI
All Eyes On Me: A Reflection on the Experience of Online Virality as a Performing Artist
Erin Clark, PRHS
In Zion “we all are rich – there is no real poverty” - reclaiming narratives of early working-class LDS converts in England (pre-recorded)
Michelle Duxbury, Media & Communication
My Ghost Will Haunt You: towards a radical reimagining of the rural idyll (featuring a soundscape)
11:30-11:45 - BREAK - Michael Sadler LG10
11:45-13:00 - Session Two - Michael Sadler LG15
Danielle Tseng, PRHS
Constructing autism: A historical trajectory of "theory of mind"
Melanie Kidd, PCI
The Grief Forum: using theatre as a tool for dialogue about grief support
Joseph Macaulay, English
'Indolent and Supremely Careless': John Keats's Letters of Idleness
Joud Asil, Design
Artificial Skin Technology for Real-Time Respiratory Health Monitoring
Jamila Falak, Music
REMEDI: Reggae as Medicine - A Practice-Based Musical Exploration of Self-Embodiment and Wellbeing (featuring a performance)
13:00-14:00 - LUNCH (pizza!) - Michael Sadler LG10
Jasmin Surm (PhD, Media and Communication), from the AHC Wellbeing Project, will be running a relaxed drop-in crafting activity during lunch.
14:00-15:15 - Session Three - Michael Sadler LG15
Chair: Dr Tim McConnell, Visiting Lecturer, LCS
Melanie Delaney, Media & Communication
Capturing a Movement: Problematising Ethics in the Photographic Representation of Children Protesting Climate Change
Morinta Rosandini, Design
Tracing the Evolution of Batik: Cultural Transformation and Material Practice
Ayushi Madan, FAHACS
What Indian Dance Pedagogies Tell us About Power Hierarchies
Maria Alvarado, FAHACS
Affective Encounters in Textile Art Practices
Tanmay Kulshrestha, History
Seen and Unseen: The Ayah and the Intimate Life of British Colonial India
Teba Naqash, English
Arabic-English Translation Issues in Legal and Peacebuilding Iraqi Contexts: Power, Negotiation and Reconciliation
15:15-15:30- BREAK - Michael Sadler LG10
15:30-16:45 - Session Four - Michael Sadler LG15
Chair: Professor Jamie Stark, Head of the Graduate School and Deputy Pro-Dean for Research & Innovation
Ffion Evans, English
The disenfranchised Bodies of George Orwell
Ye Daxon Ye, LCS
Queer culture in ancient Egyptian civilisation or The queer unconscious intentional narrative of contemporary European art films
Daniel Padgett, Music
Reapproaching String Instrument Performance with New Bow Hair Objects
Morty Zhang, English
From Christophere Okigbo's Heavengate to Labyrinths
Georgie Hook, PCI
Exploring assemblages of home through participatory collage-making