Melissa Kirby

Profile

I am a postgraduate researcher working within the School of Music at the University of Leeds. My doctoral research explores the outcomes of participation in the Purple Patch Arts Lifelong Learning programme, a Yorkshire-based creative arts education programme for people with learning disabilities and/or autism. Utilising a Participatory Action Research approach and a range of creative arts-based methods, the project seeks to understand and capture the experiences of Purple Patch Arts participants, and to identify the outcomes of creative arts-based learning. I am co-supervised by Professor Karen Burland and Dr Freya Bailes and my research is funded by the Leeds Doctoral College. 

Research profile:
www.researchgate.net/profile/Melissa_Kirby8

Research interests

My primary area of interest is music, the arts and disability. Specifically, I am interested in the impact of music and the arts in the everyday lives of people with disabilities. I am also  interested in inclusive research approaches that faciliate the active involvement of disabled people in all stages of research. 

Specific areas of research interest include:

• Music, Creative Arts and Disability 

• Musical Experiences of Disabled People

• Inclusive Research Approaches

• Participatory Action Research

• Arts-based Methods

• Functions of Music

• Music and Wellbeing

Qualifications

• MA Applied Psychology of Music
• BA Music (Industrial)