London School of Economics

Graduate Student, Social Psychology

PhD candidate

Thesis Title: Towards a cultural psychology of creativity

Supervisor: Dr. Sandra Jovchelovitch

About

The focus of my doctoral research is on developing a cultural psychological approach to creativity. In doing so I start with a critique of the individualism intrinsic to past and present understandings of creativity, starting from the image of the genius and continuing with modern cognitive approaches. I am also critical of studies in the so-called "social psychology of creativity" and in cross-cultural psychology for generally considering the social (or culture for this matter) as an external variable and ignoring the socio-cultural roots of every creative act. In my empirical research I am interested in looking at creativity at the level of the community (urban and rural spaces) and in capturing the interplay between self and other, tradition and innovation as it unfolds in everyday contexts.

My other interests are in: the psychology of art, knowledge and social representations, social development of the child, qualitative studies (especially those using non-verbal expression).