We recently launched the Digital Futures Lab (DFL) at the University of Wolverhampton — a space for speculative experimentation at the intersection of technology and culture.
Our mission is to tackle digital inequality, social injustice, and health and wellbeing challenges by reimagining how we engage with technology.
We work across computational research, VR, AI, and database projects. If you're a postgrad student with an idea, or an organisation interested in new forms of digital engagement, get in touch: [email protected]
Our projects are funded by the AHRC, British Academy, Arts Council England, and the Daiwa Foundation, our partners include BBC Arts, BBC Digital Planet, the Being Human Festival, the Haruki Murakami Library (Japan), the National Archives (UK), and the Harry Ransom Center (USA).
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4aoVOTE
Video by @agata_wasiewska_altintzoglou - AgWa Media. Script by Dr Peter Harvey.
👏Last week Sunday, our team led by PhD student successfully delivered our 'Memories of the Beatles' event at the Wolves Lit Fest. We tested olfactory, auditory and tactile stimuli and captures the memories of people who had seen the Fab Four live in concert in the sixties. It was a brilliant event ending in a concert by the Beatlemania tribute band. This exciting form of research only happens in the University of Wolverhampton's English Literature department. If you want to learn more, please go to https://bit.ly/4tiKTUo 🔥
Something slightly different today! Usually, we’re mapping the Beatles’ history through landmarks, but yesterday, we explored the living history held by the people who were actually there.
As part of the team @humanities_wolves@wlvuni , we’ve been exploring how place shapes memory. We used the Beatles as a case study to see how multi-sensory cues can unlock deep, emotive stories.
Our pilot event at @wolves.litfest was officially SOLD OUT, and the atmosphere was electric! Hearing first-hand accounts from people who were there when history was being made was an incredible privilege.
We wrapped it all up with a high-energy set from ‘Beatlemania’. It was a joy to see the room filled with singing and dancing—a fitting tribute to the legacy we are studying!
A massive thank you to Beatlemania for their stellar performance, and for every attendee who shared their precious memories—your stories are the core of this research.
Stay tuned to see where this research takes us next!🍏
#NowherePlans #Beatles #Memory #MemoriesoftheBeatles #Wolverhampton
📚✨ Calling all young writers! ✨📚
Got stories, poems, or ideas bursting out of your brain? This one’s for you 👇
🏆 Young Person’s Writing Award
🧒👧 Ages: 11–18
📅 Open: 6 Feb – 30 Apr 2026
🖊️ What can you submit?
Unpublished poetry, fiction, or non-fiction inspired by our theme:
Theme: Reading Places (Where do you read? Why does it matter? What happens there?)
📏 Word limits: • Poetry: max 40 lines • Prose: 250–500 words
📄 How to submit:
Send your work as a Word document, 12pt Times New Roman, including: • Your name • Age • Email • Postal address
📧 Email it to: [email protected]
⏰ Deadline: Midnight, 30 April 2026
🎉 What’s in it for you?
Winning entries will be published in the Reading Places Anthology 📖
…and you’ll be invited to the launch event!
So grab a pen, open a doc, and start writing—your words could be published! 💫✍️
🔥In a few hours, the "Memories of the Beatles" event will start. The experiment is sold out, but if you want to come together for a free gig by the Beatlemania tribute band, join us at 14:15 at the Wolverhampton Arts Centre, Dunkely Street, Wolves. More info, here: https://bit.ly/4jd969S👏
This Sunday sees the launch of our Digital Humanities Lab with demonstrations of our exciting research into VR, AI and computational methods. If you're interested in seeing the future of humanities research, come along for a chat to our amazing team! More information, here: https://bit.ly/4q9nRfY
We are looking for local, aspiring creative writers 🖋️🖋️ who are interested in understanding, using computational means, where their style fits in with a bunch of famous writers, from Hemingway to Elif Shafak. If you're interested in knowing more about this, please drop Prof. Bas Groes an email on [email protected]
Our Memories of the Beatles research event has hit the national media 👏. Thank you @dailyexpress . If you want to join, or know of anyone who saw the Beatles live in the sixties, please come along to our experiment: https://bit.ly/4jd969S 🔥
This morning Dr Tom Mercer (Psychology, University of Wolverhampton) talked on BBC West Midlands' Breakfast show about our wonderful new research project, 'Memories of the Beatles'. We are looking for volunteers who saw the Beatles in the West Midlands in the sixties to understand how memory works better. We are doing a first event for the Wolves Lit Fest on Sunday 8 February at the Wolves Art Centre. You can sign up here: https://bit.ly/4jd969S 👏🔥
HELP! The University of Wolverhampton Needs Somebody... to unlock memories of the Beatles.
Calling all Beatles fans - join a unique public engagement event exploring how sound, sight, touch, and even smell can trigger memories of the world’s most famous band.
As part of the Wolverhampton Literature Festival, staff and doctoral students from University of Wolverhampton’s School of English Literature and Psychology will lead interactive experiments that build on ground-breaking memory research by University experts. The event will investigate how multi-sensory cues influence recall and wellbeing, using the cultural phenomenon of the Beatles as a case study.
The research team is particularly keen to hear from local residents who attended Beatles concerts in the West Midlands, though the event is open to adults of all ages.
Interested participants can sign up here: https://bit.ly/4jd969S
If you want to know what this image means, pay attention! We are organising a second iteration of the Computational Literary Studies (CLS) training school on 6 and 7 February, 2026 in Wolverhampton. CLS uses innovative methods and tools that offer different kinds of analyses by investigating large groups of textual phenomena. Scholars use text analysis software and programming languages to analyse hundreds of texts, which can be used to track character knowledge; illuminate dramatic development of plays; and help reveal the author identity of previously anonymous texts. Here is the link to sign up: https://bit.ly/4rvpbLW
For more information, drop Bas Groes a line on [email protected]
Details of an upcoming talk by Dr Esther Asprey: ‘An Introduction to Black Country Dialect - Across Time and Space’.
Wednesday 22nd October, 7:30pm at Bilston Town Hall
Dr Esther Asprey will discuss key concepts in dialectology, exploring the history and development of the Black country dialect from its Old English roots to its place in modern speech, and how the label of Black Country came to be.
All are very welcome to attend, an informative evening for anyone interested in language, history, and regional identity.
For more information visit: /events
