Strategic Project

SUSTAINABLE CULTURES: ACADEMIA, IMAGINATION AND THE WORLD OUT THERE

Sustainable Cultures extends CETAPS’s traditional focus on English language-based cultures, literatures, and educational practices. It claims that cultures owe both their self-perception and external recognition not to intrinsic traits, but rather to a set of cultural, linguistic, medial, and epistemic relations. This humanities strategic project hence consolidates our research range by demonstrating that a deeper understanding of historical and current Anglophone cultures requires studying the interactions that have allowed them to attain a global reach. This programme draws on the recent interest, in the humanities and social sciences, in cultural sustainability (Meiris and Rippl, 2019; Jörissen et al., 2023), which positions culture as the fourth pillar of sustainable development alongside social, economic, and environmental factors.  

Our strategic project for 2025-29 approaches cultural sustainability at 4 levels: 

1. The Anglophone cultures we study have provided communities with a sense of identity by relying on relationships (rather than self-sufficiency).
2. Relational dynamics sustain such cultures also as research subjects; their relationality makes them appealing to us (researchers) – and to those for whom we are mediators, transferring knowledge and intercultural understanding.
3. The conditions that made Anglophone cultures thrive materially (point 1 above), but also as objects of our inquiry (2), sustain our academic culture, i.e. our intellectual and functional resilience as a research unit.
4. Our academic culture allows us to mediate in the reception of foreign study subjects. By relaying research results, we help host cultures understand themselves better with relation to key traits in other communities, which consolidates their own sustainability – as the “world out there” in our title.

These 4 levels of cultural sustainability will guide our 6 Research Areas (RA) and 7 Research Strands (RS):

1. 1. Anglo-Portuguese Studies RA, with Orientalism and Anglo-Portuguese (Post)Colonial Relations RS, will persist in our foundational engagement with Anglo-Portuguese relations, but now favouring differential traits such as cultural difference, power imbalances, discontinuity and conflict. 
   2. Anglophone Cultures and History RA; with Culture, Science and the Media | American Intersections RS, will focus on elements of intractability in multicultural contexts, and on challenging perceptions of the objective value of the discourses of historiography and science;
   3. Shakespeare and the English Canon RA will use its core Shakespeare translation project to explore incommensurability in languages, cultures, and epistemes, while balancing noncanonical against canonical traits in literary systems.
   4. Mapping Utopianisms RA will explore utopia as a catalyst for social change, emphasizing the interconnectedness of cultural, societal, and economic structures. Additionally, it will examine the portrayal of the natural environment in human imagination.
   5. Relational Forms RA will explore perspectives from literature and the arts re. community and memory in Ireland and Britain. It will favour the impact of recent events like Brexit and liberalisation in Irish society.
   6. TEALS RA, with Intercultural Studies, Teacher Education and CLIL RSs, will investigate training policy sustainability amidst interlingual and intercultural complexities. The Translationality RS will explore interlingual to intermedial and inter epistemic extensions. 

This strategic project was shaped by meetings at various levels, fostering discussions on strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and research priorities. This inclusive process reinforced shared research values. A case in point was a recent plenary meeting that used a Starfish retrospective exercise to engage members in discussing future action and reflecting on effective practices. The session facilitated envisioning CETAPS’ future by 2030, and led to key decisions reflected in the Strategic Goals, Gender Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Plan, Data Management Plan, and Ethical Research Guidelines.CETAPS’ Strategic Goals for 2029, shaped by contemporary concerns, are more ambitious than those set for 2022. Besides incorporating input from members, the board has aligned the Centre’s goals with the host universities’ core concerns and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Reduced Inequalities. 

Goal 1: Reinforce CETAPS’s cohesive research identity by uniting members around a shared understanding of Anglophone cultures and common methodologies and practices

Strategy: Ensure all CETAPS members integrate ‘Cultural Sustainability’ into their research. Facilitate new knowledge production aligned with this approach to Anglophone Cultures and support international dissemination plans. Organize cross-area meetings and engage young researchers in exploring Anglophone Cultures in their academic pursuits.

Goal 2: Foster a research culture that values quality, advances knowledge, ensures adequate infrastructure, and attracts high-calibre postdoctoral students and visiting scholars.

Strategy: Enhance CETAPS’s performance across RAs and RSs; prioritize high-quality research outputs; implement publication policies for international recognition; improve communication to highlight achievements; strengthen researchers’ presence on journal committees; emphasize international project participation; link incentives to conference participation tied to peer-reviewed publication plans; provide updated lists of recommended journals; promote CETAPS postdoctoral programs, emphasizing research, networking, and outreach.

Goal 3: Strengthen CETAPS’ organisational model, ensure transparent resource allocation, information dissemination, equal opportunities, and monitored progress

Strategy: Clarify resource allocation rationale; secure funding for valued research areas; provide conference organizers with guidelines; publish a quarterly Newsletter to foster collaboration; meet regularly to review performance; involve external advisors in self-assessment. 

Goal 4: Gain recognition for CETAPS’s training programs, attract high-quality MA and PhD students, and retain talented young researchers

Strategy: Promote internationally the 5 Doctoral Programmes in which CETAPS participates; secure funding for student grants; offer training workshops; support young researchers in conferences and event organisation; provide resources for the JRAAS Platform; retain Postdocs with funding; enhance mentorship for early-career scholars; continue collaboration with th National Research Mentoring Network.

Goal 5: Engage in international networks and societies to foster collaboration, exchange, and broaden the scope of our research

Strategy: Secure programmatic funding for collaboration with globally recognised networks; align CETAPS activities with international research priorities; strengthen researchers’ presence on executive and advisory committees of international networks and societies; leverage expertise, innovative practices, and digital resources from international partners; coordinate and engage in research projects addressing complex global challenges.

Goal 6: Organise conferences, symposia and seminars and edit journals and anthologies for knowledge transfer

Strategy: Consolidate CETAPS’s distinctive practice of organising large international conferences, often in series, with loyal constituencies; advance regular/ongoing initiatives impacting a variety of audiences, both local and global; continue publication policies for editing journals indexed to Scopus.

GOAL 7: Increase visibility and awareness of CETAPS’s value while investing in broad-impact outreach activities and promoting citizen science

Strategy: Maintain an updated CETAPS website; publicize key success factors through media channels; encourage members’ media presence on research topics; organize book launches and submit publications; promote CETAPS’s online journals and booklet series; engage with the local community through partnerships; expand digital presence with online events and podcasts; participate in international events; offer online courses

Goal 8: Increase researchers’ awareness of open scholarship and offer training to address ethical challenges in the Humanities, especially concerning AI usage

Strategy: Affirm CETAPS’ commitment to open society values and support open access agendas; assist researchers in publishing in open access journals; encourage data sharing; promote transparency in peer reviewing; host online events and hybrid conferences for universal access; publish research materials in open repositories; raise awareness of ethical conduct; explore using arts and humanities for human-AI interaction studies; facilitate discussions on AI tools like Chat GPT for Humanities research.

Goal 9 – Implement Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies

Strategy: Implement inclusive recruitment policies; support work-life balance; enforce zero tolerance for discrimination; integrate gender and diversity dimensions in projects; foster cross-disciplinary initiatives; promote diversity and respect in events; develop outreach materials promoting equality; ensure equal representation in boards and committees; establish an Office for Gender Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; collaborate with the RESET project.

Goal 10: Invest in knowledge and technology transfer, enhance CETAPS’s Digital Lab, databases and software, and train researchers in Digital Humanities projects

Strategy: Secure funding for Digital Humanities training; maintain and update CETAPS technologically; enhance Digital Lab user interfaces; employ ICT experts for support; use social and digital media for lab publicity; present research outcomes at international conferences; track website visits.