Congratulations to the winners of the Lorraine Lim Prize 2021/22

The Judging Committee for the Lorraine Lim Prize is delighted to announce the winners for the academic year 2021/22. We’d like to congratulate the students for their rich, innovative and insightful dissertations. Both prize winners this year were students on the MA Arts Policy and Management at Birkbeck.

First Prize

“For me, it’s life or death”: How working-class origins shape the lived experiences and career trajectories of theatre actors by Liron Shekel

The judges said:

It is really impressive to hear very candid voices of the interviewees about their experiences and reflections. I think Liron deals with a familiar topic but presents surprisingly rich and in-depth analysis. What a great achievement!

Liron does a great job of focusing on the experiences of actors who have working-class origins, which are often missing from research on career trajectories in the arts. Her work is extremely well written and brings new insights to challenge assumptions about precarious conditions in the sector. The subject matter of theatre work is close to Lorraine’s research and practical experience, having had a background in theatre herself. The dissertation is a great example of how the students on the MA Lorraine used to teach on are continuing to explore issues of equality and careers in this sector.

Second prize

Networking Nuances: Analysing systemic racism in the arts by Vanessa Mirza  

It is very interesting to see how Vanessa’s personal (and professional) journey informs her research journey. This dissertation also nicely weaves two of Lorraine’s core research interests – social justice and network. 

This is an innovative approach to researching arts policy and management which brings autoethnography into an analysis of racism in the dance sector. Vanessa has produced an important piece of work which boldly explores her own experiences and sets an example of how students can bring their voice into academic research. The role of networking that provides the theoretical framework for Vanessa’s dissertation also connects to Lorraine’s research into changing social networks of arts and creative workers.