Students at Merton benefitted from a very magical afternoon yesterday with the prospect of an interesting workshop from Nicola Clayton and Clive Wilkins. As they head into the final leg of the programme, it was good to enjoy a more active afternoon!

As usual, the group enjoyed a good breakfast together before setting off to their morning classes. Most of their classes were dedicated to very hard work as deadlines loom on the horizon for everyone. Once lessons were complete for the day the group headed to St Catherine’s College for their talks in the afternoon.

When they arrived they were greeted by Clive Wilkins, an artist and writer and his collaborator Professor Nicola Clayton, a psychologist. Together these two have developed ‘The Captured Thought.’ Clayton’s expertise lie in the psychology of animals and children, however, her strong interest in dance had lead her to look more deeply into the imagination. Wilkins is a writer who is also interested in dance and the imagination.

‘The Captured Thought’ rose out of their mutual interest in the limits and boundaries of the human imagination, and its consequences for consciousness, identity and memory. As avid dancers they use movement to explore these concepts in detail, looking specifically at ‘mental time travel.’ The goal of their project is to illuminate ideas concerning memories and question the power of the imagination.

Our cohort then, enjoyed an incredibly interesting afternoon as they travelled through time using their memories. Not only was this workshop fun, it was also inspiring, as it encouraged students to see the potential for collaboration between science and the arts.