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Dr Louise Mullagh
Lecturer in Performance and PlaceProfile
My research focuses on place-based knowledge systems, and in particular on how people come to know places through embodied, sensory and more-than-human encounters. I am interested in what is lost when these ways of knowing are displaced by data-driven and AI-generated approaches. The fieldwork often takes place in and around Morecambe Bay, where I use walking as both a research method and a theoretical practice.
This interdisciplinary research brings together performance studies, critical data studies, mobilities research and regenerative design. I combine methods and concepts from these fields to examine how knowledge of place is produced, recorded and valued. Current interests include the relationship between embodied knowledge and AI and other emerging technologies, and the role of design in developing knowledge systems that are more sustainable and regenerative.
Alongside this research, my practice covers place-based cultural development and the creative industries, including the design of sustainable and accessible creative practice. Across this work, I am concerned with whose knowledge of place counts, how it is produced and what kind of future it makes possible.
Career Details
Prior to becoming Lecturer I was Senior Research Associate in Imagination Lancaster (Population and Policy). I was also Research Associate on the AHRC funded Living Design and Located Making projects at Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University. (December 2017 - December 2019).
I have over a decade of experience of working as an arts manager in museums, and hold a PhD (EPSRC funded) in Digital Innovation (Lancaster); MRes in Digital Innovation (EPSRC funded, Lancaster); MA in Museum Studies (Manchester) ; and BA (hons) Fine Art: Practice and Theory (Lancaster)
Current Teaching
I convene the following modules:
FASS4904: Accessibility and Inclusion in Creative Industries
FASS4905: Sustainable Practice in Creative Industries
FASS3906: Festival of the Future
THEA6001: Independent Project
I also teach on Raw Materials of Performance,Theatre and Society and Live Performance Criticism.
PhD Supervision Interests
Research relating to place, technologies, design and performing as described in my research interests. I am particularly interested in cross-disciplinary PhD candidates.
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Perceptions of Place: Creative Reflections on Value
02/06/2025 → 19/12/2025
Other
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Adaptation Pathways (Our Future Coast Work Package 4)
01/05/2025 → 31/03/2028
Research
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Supporting ‘Good’ Adoption of Generative AI
13/01/2025 → 31/03/2025
Research
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The Future of AI in Creative and Cultural Industries
29/11/2024 → …
Research
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DSI: Equity for the Older: Beyond Digital Access
01/10/2022 → 31/08/2025
Research
-
Imagination Networks: Designing Place Based Policy
14/03/2022 → 31/05/2022
Research
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Participatory Policies for IoT (at the Edge) Ethics
03/05/2021 → 29/10/2021
Research
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Design Fusion Consultancy
01/03/2021 → 31/07/2021
Consultancy
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Revealing the Mill Race: Exploring More-than-Data in the city
31/07/2018 → 31/08/2019
Research
Being at Sea
Participation in conference - Academic
Coastal Research and Practice Study Day
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
EKSIG 2025
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
AHRC IAA Culture Innovation Collaborative Research Sandpit
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
IASDR 2023 (Event)
Publication peer-review
AI Futures
Symposium
6th International Conference of Public Policy
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
‘More-than-design’ for policy making: an opportunity for engaging creative methods for future policies
Oral presentation
DRS 2022 Bilbao (Event)
Publication peer-review
DRS 2022 Bilbao
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Design in Place Based Policy Workshop
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Policy Design and Practice Journal (Journal)
Publication peer-review
Evidence and Policy : A Journal of Research Debate and Practice (Journal)
Publication peer-review
DRS Bilbao 2022 - Track Co-chair
Other
Bloomsbury Academic (Publisher)
Editorial activity
The Design Journal (Journal)
Publication peer-review
PPITEE Policy prototyping workshop
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
PPITEE Project poster presentation
Oral presentation
Urban Health and Wellbeing: A Systems Approach
Invited talk
UHWB Conference 2021: Cities under COVID-19: a Systems Perspective
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
PPITEE Walking Workshop
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Design for Policy workshop series with UNU-IIGH
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
International Research Society for Public Management
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
International Research Society for Public Management
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Policy Design or Design for Policy or Something Else? Defining the Relationship Between Policy and Design
Oral presentation
Fifteenth International Conference on Design Principles and Practices
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
The Design Research Society (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Co-Design (Journal)
Publication peer-review
Policy and Governance Special Interest Group (Design Research Society) - Chair for Research
Other
Living Design: Design for Sustainability in Local Maker Enterprises
Invited talk
Sensing Place: Walking as an exploration of located knowledge
Invited talk
Revealing the Mill Race
Other
Living Design: Design for Sustainability in Local Maker Enterprises
Invited talk
Essence of Place - A Syros Workshop
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Data Publics: Investigating the formation and representation of crowds, groups and clusters in digital economies
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Data Publics: Investigating the formation and representation of crowds, groups and clusters in digital economies
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Data Publics: Investigating the formation and representation of crowds, groups and clusters in digital economies
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Data Publics: Investigating the formation and representation of crowds, groups and clusters in digital economies
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Walk and Talk: Sunderland Point
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Walking and talking
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Green Food Technology, Ubicomp 2013
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
- Cultures
- Imagination Lancaster