Dr Ella Parry-Davies Takes Part in the British Academy’s Summer Showcase

During the week of 14 June Central’s Dr Ella Parry-Davies, a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Central, will take part in the British Academy’s annual Summer Showcase: an exciting combination of free online talks, performances, demonstrations and activities exploring research into subjects ranging from early modern fortune-telling to the hidden histories of British hip–hop. 

First, on Tuesday 15 June, the eve of the 10th International Domestic Workers’ Day, Ella will take part in the event ‘Listen to the experts! Migrant women matter on Zoom’.  Chaired by May Bulman, Social Affairs Correspondent for The Independent, Ella will appear on a panel alongside Mimi Jalmasco and Marissa Begonia of the Voice of Domestic Workers in a discussion about the unique issues facing migrant domestic workers at this time, what grassroots organisations are doing to bring women’s voices to the fore, and why countering ‘migrant-victim’ narratives is a crucial part of the challenge.   

Then, on Saturday 19 June, Ella will lead a guided walk: Home Makers: go for a walk with sounds made by migrant domestic workers at Earls Court Gate, Holland Park, London. 

‘Home Makers’ is a collection of soundwalks recorded and co-edited with migrant domestic workers in the UK and Lebanon. The soundwalks aim to amplify the voices of often silenced or mis-represented women, who labour and live ‘behind closed doors’. On this walk in Holland Park, you’ll hear from soundwalk maker Ann, who remembers the park as the place she decided to escape from abusive employers; as well as fellow domestic workers sharing experiences of activism and workers’ rights. Recorded in places that are meaningful to migrant workers, the soundwalks will be introduced by facilitator Ella Parry-Davies and followed by a discussion with her and her co-collaborators Ann and Helen (soundwalk makers and migrant domestic workers) and Yvette (migrant domestic worker and campaigner). 

Ella Parry-Davies is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and facilitates a collection of soundwalks made with migrant domestic workers at homemakersounds.org.  Ella also contributed to the evidence base for the British Academy’s COVID-19 and Society reports, which are part of an independent review prepared for the Government Office for Science to address the question: What are the long-term societal impacts of COVID-19? 

Prior to joining Central, Ella was a Visiting Scholar at De La Salle University Manila, and holds a jointly-funded PhD from the National University of Singapore and King’s College London. She has published in Theatre Journal, Anti-Trafficking Review and The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Politics, and has served as a researcher/consultant for Kanlungan Filipino Consortium and Anti-Slavery International. She co-convenes the PSi working group on Performance and Critical Social Praxis. 

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences in the UK.  The Summer Showcase, the Academy’s free annual festival of ideas for curious minds, will run from 14-19 June offering a mix of online and in-person events and the chance to hear directly from academics at the forefront of new research in the Humanities and Social Sciences – from historians and archaeologists to psychologists and sociologists.