Exploring academic identity

I was funded to explore how academics reconcile an embodied practice with their academic practice and identity, and whether it contributed to their wellbeing. In other words, does their embodied practice help them make sense of their academic work, and does it make them feel better about it? The project used methods designed to interrogate and explore the participants’ own expressions of embodiment.

The findings showed that all academics with an embodied practice felt that it contributed to their personal sense of wellbeing- though that sense of wellbeing was separate from a corporate one that could be given to them through institutional initiatives. Some of the academics felt that there was a clear connection between their embodied practice and academic work, whereas others initially thought they kept them separate. Through reflection most came to the conclusion that their practice did impact on their work directly or indirectly. There seemed to be a connection between how much an individual felt that their embodied practice was integral to their identity, and the kinds of data they produced with the creative research methods. The project resulted in more questions around the ethics of research, and the boundaries between research and therapy, and research and art.