Professor Persephone Sextou

         My research Foci

My research raises fundamental inter-disciplinary questions relevant to the bedside theatre performance for hospitalised children and young people and their language of pain combined with pedagogical frameworks, digital creativity (VR, film, toy-based animated scenarios, digital drills etc.), applied storytelling, puppetry, hospital tuition, paediatric nursing, and supportive and palliative care for children and young people.

Also, excited by the inter-generational synergies between applied theatre practices in schools, hospitals and care homes towards more humane-centred education, a more sensitive healthcare and better social care services.

I am driven by the AHRC's recognition of applied research methodologies and the interconnected relationship between practice and theory in the arts. I believe that the creative arts significantly contribute to the research culture of academia and develop a growing potential which informs elements of the research outputs, producing new artistic methods and outcomes across disciplines.

Mixed inter-disciplinary methodologies. Upon the project's needs, I work closely with professionals from the Creative Arts, Digital Arts, Media & Technology, Psychology, Nursing and Social Studies who apply both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data, people's views, personal opinions and clinical data. Qualitative methods (i.e. interviews, focus groups, observations, animation film, audio ethnography, story-making during pre/post-performance data collection). The artists also write journals and logbooks and poetry as a creative way of reflecting on the experience of performing for audiences in alternative spaces, communities and challenging circumstances. With assistance from the nursing staff, we collect relevant quantitative/clinical data (i.e. cardiac pulse, blood pressure, oxygen levels, temperature etc.) to examine the effectiveness of artistic activities on physical health. I lead interdisciplinary teams and use interactive digital apps (AR, Avatar, VR, gamification) with hospitalised populations.

Practice-based approaches in my projects inform how the design of new and innovative systems for creative care in hospitals has evolved. This has a significant impact on the ethical and philosophical processes I use in research, impacting the long-term stay of children and young people in hospitals and how aesthetic work leads to strong cultural and social outcomes. 

To view my research Projects with videos: Select 'Projects' on the menu. 

To watch my Keynote talk at the Digital Performing Arts Conference below, go to 02:27 min of the video to skip the host's intro.