Rashida Resario

Contact & links

Biography

Rashida Resario is a poet and a Senior Lecturer at the Theatre Arts Department in the School of Performing Arts, University of Ghana. Her research focuses on the political economy of culture in the area of creative industries and creative labour, and the use of arts-based methods in research. Over a five-year period, she co-investigated the creative industries in Ghana across multiple sectors: theatre, film, visual art, fashion, and music; combining traditional qualitative methods with creative methods of investigation. Her work further focuses on the arts and how they provide alternative ways of seeing and knowing the world in which we live. She has received training in interdsiciplinary research from the Horizons Institute at University of Leeds, in the UK: which brought together scientists from diverse fields under the Global Academy Crucible Programme, to brainstorm and tackle global challenges in novel ways. She recently organised a workshop in collaboration with researchers from the Centre of Excellence for Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Modelling, University of Hull, as part of the British Academy funded DAIL-ICH project on Digital literacy and community-led data governance for intangible cultural heritage practitioners. Her current projects focus on female musicians in the live music sector in Ghana, and religious minorities in the audiovisual sector across Ghana, Uganda, Thailand, and the UK. Her research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Danida, and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). She effectively uses arts-based methods such as devised theatre, storytelling, and artistic research workshops, for the study of creative work, which have proven effective in broadening understanding and widening participation of key stakeholders towards inclusive and shared understanding of specific problems.

Research

My research interests fall within the broad categories of creative labour, creative industries, and the use of arts-based methods in both interdisciplinary research and discipline-specific research. The world is too complex to be held hostage by one way or approach to uncovering the insights it holds; and so are we.

Research methods and approaches

Qualitative methods including interviews, focus group discussions, observation, document analysis, and arts-based methods such as devised theatre, artistic workshops, storytelling, and multi-media arts exhibition as a way of knowing.

What are you looking for

The kinds of collaborations I am most excited about are the ones where the arts are not treated as a means of dissemination, but as a way of generating knowledge, strengthening stakeholder participation, and shaping interdisciplinary research design. I am interested in collaborators who are excited by the potential of interdisciplinary research to address complex societal challenges. While my expertise lies in creative labour, creative industries, and arts-based research, I am particularly interested in working with researchers in the natural sciences, engineering, health, environmental sciences, and digital technologies who are open to exploring how creative and participatory methods can contribute to understanding and addressing the Sustainable Development Goals. I value collaborators who are intellecturally curious, methodologically open, and committed to co-producing knowledge with communities. I am especially interested in combining arts-based approaches with scientific and technical expertise to generate innovative forms of evidence, public engagement, and societal impact.

Research discipline: Arts, Humanities, and Culture; Social Sciences

Cohort year: 2025

Programme: Crucible Programme