Meet our research team
Hello from Aberdeen, Scotland
We are a group of researchers working at the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. Scroll down to find out more.
Lucia Ruggerone
Lecturer - Social Sciences
I teach Sociology in the School of Social Studies at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK and I'm a Research Fellow at Modacult at the Universita’ Cattolica in Milan, Italy. I have published in the area of material culture, the body and affect theories. I have experience of qualitative research obtained in projects in the sociology of affects and emotions. I have a specific expertise in conducting qualitative interviews and in applying phenomenological analysis to qualitative data.
In the past two years, with Charlie Hackett, we completed a study on civil servants and volunteers working with refugees, where we used a mix of narrative and visual methods to analyse narratives and artwork produced by participants. An article presenting the results of that study is in progress. I am interested in connecting social research with art-based methods to explore people’s emotional landscape and incorporate affects in the study of social life.
Charles Hackett
Lecturer - Design
Charlie Hackett is a social arts practitioner and lectures at Grays School of Art, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. His research engages with social issues, wellbeing along with politics. His research uses participatory and visual methods and is focussed on qualitative research. He has been involved in funded research that has used visual methods to look at; alcohol and gender, addiction, terrorism, social media, and young people leaving care and those people who have facilitated the resettling of refugees in Scotland.
From working on a breadth of research that uses visual methods; he and his colleagues have become interested in how visual methods can create an emotive response once the participant explains their artwork, that was noticeable prior to the creation of the artwork. His arts practice is focussed on social engagement, activism and creating arts interventions. His research has included working with Glasgow centre for Population Health.
Anke Maas-Lowit
Social worker
I was born and grew up in South West Germany and as other countries can be reached with ease from there and vice versa, I was exposed to the benefits of connection with other cultures from a young age. I have lived in the NorthEast of Scotland since 1986 but have so far opted to retain my German citizenship.
I am a practicing social worker within an adult mental health service and I am also a part-time lecturer in Social Work at Robert Gordon University Aberdeen. I am also a teacher in mindfulness, having completed an MSC in mindfulness. For me, mindfulness and social work are about gaining insight into and being able to “be with” whatever may be present by way of emotions, thoughts and/or sensations and very importantly, also connecting with others and the world around me. I have a strong interest in forging and strengthening inter-personal connections and believe that inner awareness is very important in this process. What attracted me to this project is that it affords European citizens the opportunity to explore what they feel and think about Brexit and the additional impact of Covid in respect of their personal connection with others and it may raise the awareness of others in turn. My hope and wish are that this will bring benefit to participants and perhaps also others, who may not have been directly involved in the research.
Bart Grabski
Research Support
Bart works as a Cultural Assistant for Look Again and Gray's School of Art, where he supports marketing activities and leads on social media channels. He is originally from Poland and has been living in the UK since 7 years. Within the research project Bart focuses on supporting the research with digital presence. Previously Bart worked as a Social Media Ambassador for British Art Show 9 in Aberdeen. Within his role, he generated content for social channels and connected different international communities online.
Recently Bart graduated form a degree in Public Relations at Robert Gordon University and previously he studied Photography at the University of the Arts London and Combined Studies in Fashion at School of Textiles and Design at Heriot-Watt University in the United Arab Emirates and Scotland. He uses the knowledge gained at university to enhance communication across online platforms.