Lorraine’s main research centred around three key areas.
1. Cultural strategies used by cities to improve or transform themselves into Capitals of Culture
Lorraine’s PhD thesis (completed in 2009) focused on Singapore’s aspiration to become a Global City for the Arts, which she argued was stymied due to the city’s inability to develop a meaningful international global profile through the way it attempts to micro-manage the creation, production and consumption of culture. Lorraine was also interested in how urban regeneration strategies used sport to maintain their status or increase differentiation of Capitals of Culture. Other strategies she was researching include the construction of large-scale cultural infrastructure by emerging cities, such as Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, to transform themselves.
In the global field of cultural production: Singapore as global city for the arts. PhD thesis, 2009, University of Warwick.
2. Cultural policy and creative industries policy in East Asia
Lorraine was interested in looking at how East Asian cities in countries such as China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore are creating, implementing and managing policies related to the development of their creative industries. Examining these policies allowed her to look at the various issues that have occurred and compare their experiences with the development of the creative industries in Europe.
Routledge Handbook of Creative and Cultural Industries in Asia, edited by Hye-Kyung Lee & Lorraine Lim, Routledge (forthcoming).
‘Non-Western Views of Creativity and Innovation (co-authored with Dr Shinji Oyama)’, in The Handbook of Management and Creativity, edited by Dr Chris Bilton and Professor Stephen Cummings, 2014, Edward Elgar Publications.
3. Working conditions in the arts and media sector
Based on the experiences of her undergraduate and postgraduate Arts Management students in their attempt to gain full-time permanent employment in these sectors, Lorraine was trying to understand the processes in which unfair and inequitable entry requirements, such as unpaid internships, are limiting the opportunities of young people, thus resulting in an increasing ‘exclusivity’ of people working in these industries. Lorraine co-developed two online resources, which provide practical guidelines and advice for students and staff:
criticalworkplacements.org.uk with her colleague Sophie Hope. This website includes tools for students, placement hosts and placement tutors in higher education to use when embarking on a credited work placement at postgraduate level.
Lorraine produced a booklet called ‘Preparing for Work in the Film, Media and Cultural Industries Discussions and Tasks for Tutors and Students’ which includes tasks for tutors and students on key issues to think about in relation to developing a career in the cultural and creative industries.
‘What skills do arts sector grads need to develop their career?’, The Guardian, 21 May 2015.