MEASC – Multimodal Engaged Art/Science Centre

Art and science share core values: a willingness to experiment, a disciplined practice, embracing failure as part of the process, and a spirit of inquiry into how we can better know the world and ourselves. The scholarly potential at the interface of art and science is immense, if the boundaries between differing research methods, differing languages, and differing conceptualisations of societal challenges can be broken down and made into something new and truly transdisciplinary.

The Irish word MEASC captures our vision of how mixing the arts and sciences, and remixing them through engagement with the public, can lead to more enlightened and inclusive practice across all fields. This new centre provides visibility and community for scholarship that mixes art and science.

Transdisciplinary approaches combining art and science have been shown to benefit understanding in fields as diverse as climate change, health and wellbeing, education, mathematics, and everything from the coastline we inhabit to the stars in our sky. These approaches are sorely needed to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as no one field alone holds the keys to these ‘wicked problems’. MEASC will help illuminate how working with scientists can broaden artistic practice, and how working with artists can enrich the scientific process.

Core members: 

• Director: Jessamyn Fairfield – School of Natural Sciences and School of English, Media & Creative Arts. Visit Jessamyn's research profile. 
• Deputy Director: Rachel Quinlan – School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Visit Rachel's research profile. 
• Liz Coleman – School of Natural Sciences. Visit Liz's research profile. 
• Michael McGettrick – School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. Visit Michael's research profile. 
• Jackie Fox – School of Allied and Community Health. Visit Jackie's research profile. 
• Ananya Gupta – School of Medicine. Visit Ananya's research profile. 
• Miriam Byrne – School of Natural Sciences. Visit Miriam's research profile. 
• Patrick Lonergan – School of English, Media & Creative Arts. Visit Patrick's research profile. 
• Gesche Kindermann – School of Natural Sciences. Visit Gesche's research profile. 

Associated members:

• Muriel Grenon – School of Biological and Chemical Sciences
• Christian Ginski – School of Natural Sciences
• Andrea Kwakowsky – School of Pharmacy & Medical Sciences
• Allison Dunne – School of Allied and Community Health
• Anna Gasperini – School of Education
• Eoghan Clifford – School of Engineering
• Heike Vornhagen – School of Computer Science
• Marianne Ní Chinnéide – School of English, Media & Creative Arts
• Claire Riordan – CÚRAM Research Ireland Centre for Medical Devices 

Sign up to the MEASC Mailing list here.

Deputy Director Rachel Quinlan (L) and Director Jessamyn Fairfield (R). Martina Regan Photography.