PRESENTATIONS
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11th May 2025
Venue: University of Oxford
London Arts-Based Research Centre
Sacred Arts 2025: Exploring the Spiritual Dimensions of Artistic Expression and Ritual: A Trandisciplinary Conference
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Talk: The Numinous Ear: Autistic Listening and Aural Diversity as a Gateway to the Divine and Sublime: Exploring Sonic Consciousness through Phenomenology, Panpsychism, and Process Philosophy.
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ABOUT
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My research exists at the intersection of aural diversity, neurodivergence, music composition, documentary film, poetic inquiry, phenomenology, aesthetic mysticism, philosophy of consciousness and Jungian arts.
Central to my approach is transdisciplinary arts-based practice research as a tool for narrative inquiry and voice amplification within unheard communities. My work foregrounds subversive, experimental, and transformative artistic methodologies, where blending multiple paradigms and epistemologies becomes an artistic act in itself- an act of creative transdisciplinarity that challenges dominant knowledge-production epistemologies.​
My PhD explores neurodivergent auditory realities and how these experiences are translated into artistic artefacts. I approach sonic consciousness as a fluid, processual experience that shifts and unfolds. My research challenges linear methodologies and embraces the relational aesthetics of lived experience, using sound and the arts to foster new ways of knowing and being in the world. Sound, as a processual material, becomes a way of interacting with both the known and the unknown, allowing us to express and explore the affective dimensions of human existence.
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Sound is not a fixed entity but an ongoing agent, shaped by perception, memory, and embodied experience; an artistic language that communicates the ineffable, the sublime, and the Divine, creating spaces of metaphysical resonance and creative consciousness. Through transdisciplinary arts-practice research, I explore how embodied, affective, and subjective experiences of sound challenge dominant auditory and acoustic paradigms. Sound becomes an aesthetic vehicle for expressing creative consciousness, not communicated through rationality but through the sensory and emotional. Multimodal artistic practice allows the translation of multisensory experience, transcending the limits of verbal communication and offering alternative, non-verbal ways of expressing and understanding aural diversity.
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My academic journey is interdisciplinary and intermodal, spanning music composition, TV journalism/broadcasting, radio, social sciences, documentary film, education, psychotherapeutic counselling, and the arts. Informed by my positionality as a neurodivergent, care-experienced, mixed-ethnicity artist, my research is shaped by exploratory artistic methods that transcend conventional paradigms.
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Research area interests:
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I. Arts-Practice Research & Methodologies
Innovative, transformative, and subversive research approaches through arts-based practices.
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Transdisciplinary Arts-Practice Based & Led Research
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Heuristic Inquiry & Multimodal Artistic Expressions
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Bricolage, Crystalliz(s)ation & Subversive Methodologies in Arts Research
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Transformative & Embodied Approaches in the Arts
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II. Auditory Perception, Aural Diversity & Sensory Agency
Sound, sensory perception, and neurodivergent auditory experiences in artistic expression.
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Aural Diversity & Neurodivergent Auditory Realities
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Sonic Aesthetic Mysticism & Metaphysics
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Panpsychism, Process Philosophy, Interconnection, & Sonic Agency
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Jungian Auditory Archetypes: Symbolism, Active Imagination ​​
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III. Phenomenology, Consciousness & Aesthetics
Consciousness, aesthetics, and embodiment in art creation and perception.
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Phenomenology & Embodiment in Artistic Practice
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Creative Consciousness in Art Creation
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Everyday Aesthetics & the Sacred in the Mundane
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Embodied Sound: Aesthetic & Phenomenological
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Transcendence & Immanence in Artistic Creation
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IV. Mystical Theologies in Artistic Practice
Mysticism, spirituality, and embodiment through artistic expression.
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The Numinous, Sublime & Divine in Autistic Auditory Perception
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Autistic Aesthetic Mysticism & Embodiment
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Theopoetics of Sound: Music & the Arts as Encounters with the Divine
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Apophatic Aesthetics: Silence, Absence & the Ineffable in Music & Sound
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Creative Practice as a Mystical Path of Unknowing & Illumination
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Art as Unintentional Prayer: Devotion in the Flow of Creation
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Myth, Folklore, Symbol & Sound as Sacred Expression
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Alchemy & Artistic Transmutation: Nigredo, Albedo, Rubedo in the Creative Process
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Jungian Mysticism: Individuation, the Sacred Self & Archetypes​​​​​
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V. Music
Music and embodiment to express auditory realities and affective experiences.
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Improvisation as an Articulation of Neurodivergent Hearing
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Composition in Expressing Inner Autistic Musicians' Auditory Realities
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Music as an Expression of Affective Embodied Experience
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Music in Neurodivergent Identity Formation & Expression
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Transcendence, the Sublime & Divine in Musical Expression & Creation
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Multimodal Arts Research: Film Docs, Music & Poetics as Intersecting Forms
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Subverting the Music Score: Transforming Notation into Experimental Artistic Expression
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Jungian Individuation through Music Composition & Identity Formation
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VI. Poetic & Symbolic Inquiry
The symbolic, poetic, and psychoanalytic to understanding myth, sound, and the unconscious.
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Reflexive Autoethnography in Autistic Auditory Experience
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Symbolic Poetic Inquiry & Theopoetics
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Folklore, Mythology & the Unconscious
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Performative Writing: Sound, Rhythm & Emotion through Text
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Font as Visual Sound: Typography as an Aesthetic
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VII. Film Poetics & Documentary
Documentary film for representing unheard voices and transcendent experiences.
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Film (Documentary): Observational (CV), Direct, Essayist, Poetic & Lyrical Forms
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Multimodal Arts Research: Film, Music & Poetics as Intersecting Forms
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Film as Resistance: Lived Realities of the Excluded, Silenced & Unheard​​​​​​​
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VIII. Therapeutic Practices & Psychotherapy Through the Arts
Arts-based therapeutic practices that support healing, expression and individuation.
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Child Intermodal Psychotherapeutic Counselling Through the Arts
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Person-Centred Arts Therapy: Carl Rogers, Creativity & Actualising
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Expressive Arts Therapy: Neuroplasticity, Music & Attachment Theory
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Jungian Arts-Based Healing
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Sandplay Therapy & Metaphor: The Unconscious in Story & Sensory​​​
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IX. Conceptual Headpieces as Narrative Artefacts
Headpieces as conceptual tools that use design, materials, and symbolism to convey personal, cultural, and spiritual narratives.
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Headpieces as Conceptual Symbols: Narratives in Design, Materiality, and Craft
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Narrative Construction in Headpiece Design: Storytelling Through Form, Colour, and Context
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Embodied Narratives: Translating Lived Stories into Wearable Artefacts
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X. Identity, Intersectionality & Decolonial Praxis
Reclaiming narratives and empowering identities through artistic practices.
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Reclaiming Narrative Authority Through Subversive Creative Practice
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Excluded, Silenced, Unheard & Underexplored Communities
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Poststructuralist Fluid Identities & Fragmented Narratives in Arts
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The Theatrical Self: Goffman’s Metaphor and the Performance of Identity
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Care-Experienced Artists: Creative Identity, Formation & Belonging
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Racial & Cultural Identities through Artistic Expression
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SCHOLARSHIPS​
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PhD Studentship- The Leverhulme Trust Aural Diversity Doctoral Research (LAURA)
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BAFTA Reuben Scholarship- MA Filmmaking (Screen Documentaries) Goldsmiths, University of London.
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Honorary MA Radio Student status, granted by Emeritus Professor Tim Crook, Goldsmiths, University of London.
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EDUCATION
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Oct 2024 -2027:
University of Salford, Acoustics/School of Arts, Media, PhD, (Music/Film/Arts)
Leverhulme Trust Aural Diversity Research Doc Hub (LAURA)
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Supervisors: Main: Professor Ursula Hurley (Poetics/Creative Literature)
Co-Supervisor: Dr. Pavel Prokopic (Experimental Film)
External Advisor: Professor John Drever
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Research Project: Sonic Selfhood: Reclaiming Music Scores- Neurodivergent Musicians' Auditory Identity Through Transdisciplinary Arts-Based Research Practice'
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This three-year project will integrate transdisciplinary arts-based research methods to provide multilayered communication and understanding of how neurodivergent musicians navigate their aural experiences through their instruments and artistic artefacts. Autistic musicians will contribute artefacts through audio, film, compositions, live performances, and mixed-media art to capture these lived auditory experiences resulting in an end-of-project immersive, sensory art installation that will be available to the public.
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JAN 2022 – JAN 2024:
University of Greenwich, Level 7 PGCE (Further Education)
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Research Project: ‘Conflicts in Neurodivergent Learning in Educational Institutions’:
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Explored systemic conflicts between institutional practices, work culture and policies promoting neurodivergent learning, highlighting issues such as autistic tokenism, spatial design and internal politics and funding in (FE) colleges hindering support for autistic learners and staff, emphasising the impact of institutional cultural barriers on policy implementation.
SEP 2018 – AUG 2020
Goldsmiths College, University of London, BAFTA Reuben Scholarship,
MA (Masters) in Filmmaking (Screen Documentaries) (First term in TV Journalism)
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Research Project: "Silence"
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A documentary exploration of why British Black heterosexual men are ignored over their experiences of mental health, abuse and suicide. It explores how society willfully overlooks these experiences, perpetuating a cycle of silence and invisibility through socially pressured masculinities.
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SEP 2018 – AUG 2020
Goldsmiths College, University of London, Honorary MA Radio student
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Granted by Emeritus Professor Tim Crook, Goldsmiths, University of London
SEP 2016 – JUN 2017:
University of Cambridge, PGCert, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapeutic Counselling
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Research Project: "Does Metaphor Help Us Understand What A Child's Emotional World Of Parental Mental Illness Through Art?: A Case Study Of Non-Directive Sessions With A Young Carer"
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Explored how young children aged five who were primary carers to parents battling mental illness communicate their emotional experiences through artistic expression. The case study involved non-directive counselling sessions and used interpretative analysis of metaphors and symbolic representations present in the child's artwork to gain further insights into how children internalise and process the complexities of their caregiving roles and how this impacts their emotional landscape of parental mental health challenges on their lived realities.
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Sep 2009 – JUNE 2012
Goldsmiths College, University of London, BA Sociology
Research Project: Virtual or Reality?: Intimacy in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs)
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Investigated the phenomenon of couples and intimate relationships formed within massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) using qualitative methods. It focused on players who developed profound emotional connections and romantic bonds with others strictly through virtual interactions, despite never meeting their partners in the physical world. The participants viewed these exclusively online, avatar-based relationships as holding the same significance, intimacy, and emotional depth as traditional romantic relationships conducted in the physical world.
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CPD
SEP – NOV 2023: TEFL UK, Advanced 150 hr Certificate in Teaching English In A Foreign Language
MAY – JUNE 2023: TQUK, Level 2 Certificate in Special Educational Needs and Disability
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TEACHING EXPERIENCE
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With over five years of experience, I have taught a diverse range of subjects including Music, Social Sciences, Media, PSHE, and Humanities. My instructional style is primarily rooted in constructivist and humanistic methodologies, emphasising student-centred learning, critical thinking, and personal growth. However, I occasionally integrate behaviourist strategies for deadlines and structured learning outcomes.
I have taught across diverse educational environments, including secondary schools, alternative education provisions, and Further Education (FE) colleges. I have experience working with neurodivergent (SEND) learners and individuals with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD). This has developed my skills in adaptive teaching and creating inclusive learning environments.
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I have been a Course Leader and lecturer for several courses, including Access to Psychology, Access to Psychology & Education, Access to Social Sciences and Humanities, UAL Diplomas in Creative, Performing, and Production Arts Department, BTEC Health & Social Care, GCSE courses in Religious Studies, Art, Music, History, and the Level 2 Vocal Artist RSL Diploma. My diverse subject specialisms and adaptable pedagogical approach enable me to effectively engage and support a wide range of learners in different educational contexts.​​​​​​
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© 2025 Xsara Helmi. No copying or distributing without consent, including all music, logos and images. All rights reserved.
