We define narrative very broadly and are concerned with examining it as a structuring mechanism across multiple media and disciplines. We are also interested in exploring how narrative interacts with and impacts on cultures and communities.  As an interdisciplinary research centre we bring together a range of diverse approaches and methodologies from members across the University.

NCCR book covers
Recent books by NCCR members

Formerly a research cluster in the Centre for the Study of Journalism, Culture and Community, since its inception in 2008 the Narrative Research Group (NRG) has provided an inclusive and supportive space for staff, ECRs and PGRs from multiple disciplines who approach narrative from a range of methodological, critical and creative perspectives. The new Centre, launched in 2019, provides an organisational structure for members’ research and professional practice activities, including funding bids, publications, seminars, workshops, and conferences. It also aims to ensure that the development of research proceeds in a strategically informed way, providing support for individual researchers and encouraging new initiatives.

Literatures and Laws Symposium 2024

Black and white photo of stone posts leading to dark path and lit lamp post

Literatures and Laws Online Symposium 

A one-day symposium hosted online by Bournemouth University, UK, held on 13th April 2024. 

Department of Humanities & Law, and Narrative, Culture, and Community Research Centre

For information about signing up to attend, please contact Dr Sam Walker at [email protected]

Provisional programme

Please note: We expect presentations on panels to keep to a strict 15 minute time limit, which allows 10 minutes for Q&A and a quick break before the next panel. All times are British Summer Time (UTC+ 0:100)

10am -10.15am 

Opening remarks

10.15am -11am 

Keynote I: Professor Hywel Dix

11am -12pm 

Panel 1. Case Studies: Beyond The Law

11am -12pm 

Stacy Gillis,

‘A Work of a Tendency So Grossly Immoral’: Public Morals, Copyright, and Women’s Writing in the Early Twentieth Century

Sylwia Hałub

The stories written during the trial: The 1992 Jeffrey Dahmer case 

K. Subramanyam 

The Farce of Justice: The Literary Afterlife of Infamous 1650 Trial of Anne Green 

12pm -1.15pm 

Panel 2. Law in Fiction

Jamie Bernthal

 The Limits of Law in Golden Age Crime Fiction

 Ernesto Edwards 

 “Exploring Legal Constructs in Speculative Realms: A Journey through Borges' 'Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis, Tertius’”

 Diganta Roy 

Closing the Deal with Dracula: A Study of the Legalities of Home-Ownership in Stoker’s Novel

 Tamzin Elliott 

Rethinking dichotomies of abortion in Annie Ernaux’s Happening (2000; 2022) 

1.15pm - 2pm 

Lunch break

2pm - 3pm 

Panel 3. Literature, Narrative, and Storytelling Effects on Law

2pm - 3pm 

Jade Marris 

Title TBC 

Chris Gavaler & Nathaniel Goldberg

Retconning Law

Sarah Woodward 

Stories hidden in plain hearing: how narrative analysis can help the criminal justice system understand coercive and controlling behaviour. 

3pm -3.45pm

Panel 4. Politics, Literature, and Law

3pm - 3.45pm 

Daniel Camurca and Ikaro Grangeiro 

Rise of the extreme right and the origins of the Brazilian civil military dictatorship: analysis of the comic book O Golpe de 64 

 Rupsa Banerjee 

British Imperialism and Divergent Attitudes to Material Wealth in James Thomson’s Liberty and Samuel Johnson’s London

3.45pm - 4pm 

Break

4pm -4.45pm 

Keynote II:  Dr Caroline Derry

4.45pm - 5pm 

Closing remarks

Keynote speakers:

Professor Hywel Dix (Bournemouth University, NCCR member)
Hywel is interested in the relationship between culture and social and political change, especially in relation to political devolution in the 4 nations of the UK, as well as autofiction and cultural memory. Recent publications include Compatriots or Competitors: Welsh, Scottish, English and Northern Irish Writing and Brexit in Comparative Contexts (University of Wales Press, 2023). 

Dr Caroline Derry (Open University)
Caroline Derry joined the Open University in April 2017. She is a senior lecturer in law, teaching subjects including criminal and evidence law. Her other roles include Law School EDI Champion. 
Caroline qualified as a barrister, practising in criminal defence law, and as a solicitor in a large, central London legal aid practice. She then taught for fifteen years at London Metropolitan University, where she was a senior lecturer in criminal and evidence law and gender & law, and course leader for the LLB Law. She has been a visiting lecturer in criminal law at SOAS and at Paris Descartes (Masters in Common Law).

Recent projects

DRIVE (Digital Reading for Inclusivity, Versatility and Engagement)

DRIVE is a new network that brings together academics, NGOs, stakeholders and practitioners from Kenya and the UK to explore the impact and application of digital technologies for development challenges in Africa.

Picture credit – Worldreader

The network brings together academics, industry, NGOs, policymakers and practitioners from Africa with UK partners to maximise digital technologies to address development challenges including health, energy and accessibility to online resources. Bournemouth University (UK) are working in partnership with the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (Kenya), Chuka University (Kenya) and Worldreader.

Find out more about this research

Awards

Project PI Professor Bronwen Thomas has recently been the receipient of a prestigious award for her academic research work on literacy in the digital age. The announcement was made at the World Literacy Awards hosted by the World Literacy Foundation with 5,300 attendees from 52 countries who joined the online ceremony. Find out more and watch the World Literacy Awards 2021 ceremony.

View more