Sarah Sayeed (QMUL) - 2022-23 Students

A musical feast for the Mile Enders’? Music, social inclusion and community engagement in London’s East End, c.1890 to the present

My interest in a PHD and study at this point in time comes from an alignment of this particular research area with my own current professional and academic interests. My role as Creative Director at Project Phakama, based in Mile End and on Queen Mary’s campus, aptly places me at the centre of Mile End in my own professional work,  and the practical based approach to the PHD allows for real life engagement with East London communities, alongside Phakama’s current and new communities, re-engaging local people into their own histories, locations and geographical landscapes with storytelling and arts engagement. As a Bangladeshi female artist with roots in Walthamstow but a strong sense of my own familial migration and of diaspora, I bring to the position unique qualities, skills and real world knowledge.

Primary academic supervisor: Prof. Alastair Owens
Secondary academic supervisor: Dr Paul Edlin, QMUL
Collaborative Partner lead contact: Sarah Gee, Spitalfields Music