Researcher
Elvira Crois
- Research Expertise
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel):
Elvira Crois is Assistant Professor and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Educational Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Their research focuses on worldmaking within and via participatory arts and playful education for social change. In 2023, Elvira started a research project on aesthetic learning strategies for climate change education. They examine aesthetic strategies used in participatory performance on climate change to support education geared towards transforming the cultural dimension of climate change, i.e. people’s attitudes and behaviour towards a sustainable future for Earth.
In 2022, Elvira completed a joint PhD in Theatre and Intermedia (University of Antwerp) and Adult Educational Sciences (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) with the doctoral thesis ‘Holding [ a Conversation with ] the Situation. The Performer’s Tactical Ability and the Aesthetic Affect of Audience Participation’. The research examined performer training in participatory performing arts to better understand how the abilities of the performer affect the aesthetics of audience participation. Through an accompanying approach (i.e. a participatory research method) and the theoretical framework of theatre genetics (i.e. the study of the creative process-) the project investigated participatory performing arts, including the work of Katrien Oosterlinck (BE) (www.spatie.info), Seppe Baeyens (BE) (leon.dance) and Sarah John (AU/DK) (art-of-listening.org).
In 2022-2023, Elvira coordinates together with Marieke Breyne the community of practice 'Worldmaking: Crafting Cultures With and For Young People', funded by Erasmus+ Youth in Action (JINT vzw). This interdisciplinary project gathers practitioners from participatory arts, arts educators, and social justice to explore the interplay between rules and values in the process of worldmaking. Project partners: Destelheide (BE), De Veerman (BE), spatie/Katrien Oosterlinck (BE), Coney/The Young Coneys (UK), Art of Listening (DK), Keur Eskemm (FR).
From 2015-2017 they worked as a socio-cultural worker at Gemeenschapscentrum De Kriekelaar in Schaarbeek, Brussels. Since 2017 Elvira has taken up the role as assessor of Erasmus+ youth projects for the national agency JINT. Elvira is part of Apaya Network, a European network of young researchers who explore the poetics of sensorial theatre. Furthermore they are an organising member of the interuniversity doctoral course “What does it mean to be a researcher in 21st century Academia?” and from 2018-2020 co-president of the informal body of doctoral students of the department of literature.
- Keywords (University of Antwerp):Language and literature (incl. information, documentation, library and archive sciences)
- Keywords (Vrije Universiteit Brussel):General and logistic services, Educational sciences
- Disciplines (University of Antwerp):Group and interpersonal processes, Cultural participation, Informal learning, Methodology of pedagogical and educational research, Mesolevel instructional sciences, Microlevel instructional sciences, Vocational education, professional training, lifelong learning, Anthropological theory, Sociology of arts, Group and interpersonal relations, Sociological methodology and research methods, Interpersonal communication, Poetics, Performance studies, Theatre science, Design for performance, Choreography, Circus, Dramaturgy, Performance, Theatre, Theatre techniques, Social and relation art, Human-centred design
- Disciplines (Vrije Universiteit Brussel):Performance, Environmental education and extension, Dramaturgy, Informal learning, Cultural participation, General and logistic services, Social change
- Users of research expertise
(Vrije Universiteit Brussel):
Elvira Crois is Assistant Professor and postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Educational Sciences at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Their research focuses on worldmaking within and via participatory arts and playful education for social change. In 2023, Elvira started a research project on aesthetic learning strategies for climate change education. They examine aesthetic strategies used in participatory performance on climate change to support education geared towards transforming the cultural dimension of climate change, i.e. people’s attitudes and behaviour towards a sustainable future for Earth.
In 2022, Elvira completed a joint PhD in Theatre and Intermedia (University of Antwerp) and Adult Educational Sciences (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) with the doctoral thesis ‘Holding [ a Conversation with ] the Situation. The Performer’s Tactical Ability and the Aesthetic Affect of Audience Participation’. The research examined performer training in participatory performing arts to better understand how the abilities of the performer affect the aesthetics of audience participation. Through an accompanying approach (i.e. a participatory research method) and the theoretical framework of theatre genetics (i.e. the study of the creative process-) the project investigated participatory performing arts, including the work of Katrien Oosterlinck (BE) (www.spatie.info), Seppe Baeyens (BE) (leon.dance) and Sarah John (AU/DK) (art-of-listening.org).
In 2022-2023, Elvira coordinates together with Marieke Breyne the community of practice 'Worldmaking: Crafting Cultures With and For Young People', funded by Erasmus+ Youth in Action (JINT vzw). This interdisciplinary project gathers practitioners from participatory arts, arts educators, and social justice to explore the interplay between rules and values in the process of worldmaking. Project partners: Destelheide (BE), De Veerman (BE), spatie/Katrien Oosterlinck (BE), Coney/The Young Coneys (UK), Art of Listening (DK), Keur Eskemm (FR).
From 2015-2017 they worked as a socio-cultural worker at Gemeenschapscentrum De Kriekelaar in Schaarbeek, Brussels. Since 2017 Elvira has taken up the role as assessor of Erasmus+ youth projects for the national agency JINT. Elvira is part of Apaya Network, a European network of young researchers who explore the poetics of sensorial theatre. Furthermore they are an organising member of the interuniversity doctoral course “What does it mean to be a researcher in 21st century Academia?” and from 2018-2020 co-president of the informal body of doctoral students of the department of literature.