Project Overview
our place, our stage is a 3 year project that aims to explore the potential role that applied theatre can have in sexual and reproductive health education. Recent research on the spread of HIV in Africa, in particular the success in halting the virus in Uganda, has suggested that increased social communication, across communities and chiefs, and a greater acknowledgement of the existence of AIDS in the community and in particular AIDS reporting, has impacted on the prevalence of HIV (Low-Beer and Stoneburner, 2004). Thus, this project will research as to whether participation in performance forms such as drama, dance, song, puppets, and music, could impact upon the social communication between members of a community and whether or not this has an influence on the community's sexual and reproductive health.
The research will involve both field research and web based enquiry as well as a literature review on applied theatre and SRH education, health, development and sexuality. It is well known that the African continent has severe sexual and reproductive health issues, ranging from the vast AIDS pandemic to the more localised issues such as female genital mutilation in Tanzania and sugar daddies and mummies in South Africa. It is for this reason that the project will be based in Africa and the field research will be conducted predominantly in South Africa and Tanzania.
Research Questions:
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What is the role of applied theatre in SRH education?
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Can performance-based projects impact on social communication within communities?
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How can social networks and social communication be used in public health and what new techniques can be developed for their use?
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What are the ethical implications of this work?
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How can applied theatre be used as a research tool?
Research plans and aims:
- To research the impact and importance of social networks within communities for better sexual and reproductive health.
- To build (with your help) a database of tools, resources and techniques for SRH education for all to use.
- To map (with your help) performance and art-based projects for SRH education.
- To generate dialogues about performance and SRH between practitioners through the forum.
- To run two in-depth case studies in South Africa and Tanzania exploring how performance can impact upon the social communication within communities.
- To develop different mapping and data collecting techniques which will be both qualitative and quantitative.
How long will it run for?
This is a three-year project and will end in September 2009. However the outputs from the research, such as the website and the results of the community initiatives will be ongoing and the subject of further research.