SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Institute of Languages Cultures and Societies.
Resonant Tongues: The Art and Practice of Listening.1- Piloting in Practice
5 May -Mid July 2026
On May 5, 2026 Arpine Kostanyan (President of “Educational and Cultural Bridges” NGO) was invited as a speaker to the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, an institute of the School of Advanced Studies, at the University of London to share a bit about her work, projects and activities with UK partners and Universities. It is based at Senate House, which was, once upon a time, the UK's Ministry of Information, and now serves as a research base and exploration of the richness and freedom of human thought. ILCS's mission is to promote the humanities, especially where academia meets the arts and creative practice in communities.
The meeting was organized by Helen Patuck. Helen Patuck is the Creative Practitioner in Residence at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies at SAS University of London, founder of Kitabna – Our Book and a consultant on international humanitarian and mental health interventions. She writes fiction and illustrates in watercolour, teaching creative writing as a tool for listening and belonging.
Cooperation between EC Bridges and Kitabna started in 2022, the detailed information about implemented joint projects can be found on the web page of EC bridges, project section:
https://www.ec-bridges.com/projects.html
Exploring cross-border mental health resources with WHO and grassroots creative writing toolkits developed with displaced communities in Armenia and Syria, this session explores what happens when methodologies move between contexts.What do we learn when a resource is adapted across languages, cultures and political realities? How can research be translated into public-facing formats such as zines, podcasts and community resources?The session will also reflect on arts and public health collaborations, including multilingual storytelling initiatives developed in response to crisis contexts.
Among the speakers of the meeting were:
David Clarke is a Professor of German, and Head of the School of Modern Languages at Cardiff University. His research focuses on the culture and politics of memory, particularly in relationship to difficult and contested pasts. He is also a published poet, with work exploring nature, time.
Cooperation of EC Bridges and University of Cardiff and Bath, UK started from 2019 from Horizon2020 project, which was 5 years project cooperation between NGOs and Universities.
Asia Haidar is a Kurdish-Syrian-German journalist and fact-checker working across media and community-based projects. She reports for Der SPIEGEL on conflicts in the Middle East, with a focus on Islam, migration, and extremism. She has been part of Kitabna – Our Book CIC since its beginnings in Beirut and has contributed to projects in Syria, Northern Irland and Armenia. Working across Arabic, English, German, and Kurdish, her practice explores how narratives, research, and creative formats move between languages and contexts, particularly in crisis and displacement settings.
Heather Pearson was originally an Occupational Therapist in Canada, and went on to complete an MSc in Public Health and Developing Countries at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine just next door to us here. Since then, she has lived in Haiti and Sierra Leone, working alongside communities and people with psychosocial and other disabilities to develop inclusive health programmes. Now based in Cambridge, Heather works as a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) consultant at WHO, with a focus on public health emergencies and disability inclusion. Heather recently began her PhD at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, exploring the stigma experienced by survivors of Ebola virus disease and mpox in Uganda.
Arpine Kostanyan is the founder and president of Educational and Cultural Bridges NGO in Armenia. She studied British and American Studies at Yerevan State University and holds a Joint European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation.
Based in Yerevan, Arpine has worked with a wide range of international organisations, including the UN, EU, Council of Europe, and UNESCO. Her work focuses on education, human rights, and building connections across cultures.
Ani Engibaryan is a psychologist, trainer, and programme developer with experience across education, social services, and international organisations.
Based in Armavir Provence in Armenia, she specialises in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), emotional wellbeing, and trauma support. Ani has worked with organisations such as UNHCR, the Armenian Red Cross, and AGBU, developing programmes on grief, loss, and inclusive education.
Her work also draws on interests in ethnopsychology, folklore, and plant-based healing practices.
The detailed link about the project can be found on the following link:
https://ilcs.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/resonant-tongues-art-practice-listening-1-piloting-practice
