Research: Graphic Lives
A series of projects using arts-based research methods to examine what individuals' stories and community narratives can reveal about social issues and wellbeing.
Project summary
Research summary
Graphic Lives is a series of related projects that use arts-based research methods to explore social issues and wellbeing with a focus on community narratives and individuals’ stories.
Led by Dr Sarah McNicol, the research has so far focused on three communities:
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People with dementia - using comics to represent and share experiences of dementia, from the point of view of people living with the condition
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Women from the British Bangladeshi community in Greater Manchester - exploring their life stories and historical narratives through workshops on life history, cross-cultural storytelling and digital skills
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Former soldiers - examining the role of arts, culture and sport in supporting veteran transition to civilian life
Selected research outputs
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McNicol, S.L. (2016). Reading health education comics critically, challenging power relationships. In: Critical Literacy for Information Professionals. Facet
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McNicol, S.L (2017). The potential of educational comics as a health information medium. Health Information and Libraries Journal. 34(1), pp.20-31
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McNicol, S.L. (2018). Telling migrant women’s life stories as comics. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. 9(4), pp.279-292
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McNicol, S.L. and Leamy, C. (2020). Co-creating a graphic illness narrative with people with dementia. Journal of Applied Arts and Health. 11(3), pp.267-280
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Brewster, L. and McNicol, S. (2020). Bibliotherapy in practice: a person-centred approach to using books for mental health and dementia in the community. Med Humanit
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McNicol, S.L. (2019). Using participant-created comics as a research method. Qualitative Research Journal. 19(3), pp.236-247
Research team
Research team
Lead researcher
Collaborators and co-researchers in this research area are listed on individual project pages.
Funding
With funding from
Heritage Fund
Arts & Humanities Research Council
Arts Council England
Contact
Contact us
For general enquiries about the Education and Social Research Institute’s youth and community group, you can contact research lead Prof Gabrielle Ivinson.
Project enquiries
For project enquiries, please contact Dr Sarah McNicol.