Mr Jamie Bird

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Job title: Lecturer

Email: j.bird@derby.ac.uk
Personal website: derby.academia.edu/JameBird/Papers/manage
Phone No: 01332 594044
Room: Britannia Mill 101

Recent publications

Faculty: Education, Health and Sciences

School: School of Health and Social Care

Subject Area: Mental Health and Therapeutic Practice

Jamie Bird is an art therapist working within the University of Derby's Therapeutic Arts subject area. He is concerned with the ways in which art therapy can be synthesised with other areas of enquiry, including visual research methodologies and community development. As part of this theme he has been facilitating community based art therapy groups with women from South Asia and women who have experienced domestic violence and has been involved in producing an exhibition of art work produced by artists in exile generated as part of a piece of Participatory Action Research. Jamie is also a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has recently conducted narrative based research into students' experiences of experiential groups which is helping to shape the way such groups are facilitated. Previous research has involved the interviewing of art therapists to explore the historical development of art therapy in the area of learning difficulties, and as part of an exploration of the issues arising from art therapy conducted bilingually. The place of imagination and the sensual within biographic research is also of much interest; this includes the use of film and video to represent memory, identity and place. A PhD research degree has been embarked upon that is focusing upon the use of arts based research methodologies to explore experiences and representations of domestic violence within East Midlands communities. Jamie received a University of Derby Promising Researcher award in July 2010.

Lecturer on Creative Expressive Therapies undergraduate programme and contributor to MA Art Therapy and MA Dramatherapy programmes.

  • Member of the Therapeutic Arts Research Ethics Committee and of the University's Society, Religion and Belief research group.

Teaching responsibilities

Module Leader for:

  • Historical Perspectives of Healing - Stage 1 UG
  • Experience of Illness - Stage 2 UG
  • Interpersonal Development - Stage 2 UG
  • The Healing Relationship - Stage 2 UG
  • Representations of Self - Stage 3 UG
  • Independent Scholarship - Satge 3 UG
  • Evidence Based Practice and Research - MA Art and Drama Therapy.

I am part of the teaching team for:

  • Working Creativelly with People - Stage 1 UG
  • Working Creatively on Placement - Stage 3 UG
  • Independent Studies - Stage 3 UG
  • Independent Scholarship - MA Art Therapy and Dramatherapy
  • Art Therapy Experiential Group - MA Art Therapy.

Research interests

Current research is focused upon the development and evaluation of an arts-based and participatory research methodology to represent womens' experiences of domestic abuse within East Midlands communities. This project is apart of a PhD programme of study and is due for completion in 2014.

Other theoretical and practical areas of concern include:

  • The role of the image, language and translation in bi-lingual Art Therapy.
  • Art Therapy with refugees and Diaspora communities.
  • The relationship between education and psychotherapy in higher education.
  • Postmodernism and identity in relation to Art Therapy; including the work of Julia Kristeva and Paul Ricoeur, and their relevance to Art Therapy.
  • Art Therapy as a tool within social science research; including visual and performative based research methods.
  • Film and video production as an educational and research tool, and as a therapeutic medium.

Membership of professional bodies and advisory committees

Registered with Health Professions Council (as an Art Therapist) and a member of the British Association of Art Therapists (Region 9).

Recent Conferences

  • 1-7-2009 Art Therapy and Domestic Violence (workshop) at: 2nd Domestic Violence and the Arts Conference. Quad, Derby.
  • 14-1-2010 Domestic Violence and the Male Researcher (paper presentation) at: New Horizons. Post-Graduate Research Conference. University of Derby.

  • 8-9-2010 Gender, Knowledge & Art: Feminist Standpoint Theory synthesised with arts-based research in the study of domestic violence at Vital Signs 2. University of Manchester.

Undergraduate qualifications

  • BA (Hons) Arts Therapies, University of Derby

Postgraduate qualifications

  • PG Dip Art Therapy, University of Derby
  • MA Art Therapy, University of Derby
  • PG Dip Learning & Teaching in Higher Education, University of Derby

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