Winter School ‘Research-creation: merging the critical and the creative’

This course invites students to rethink and re-evaluate standard methods of thinking, knowing, doing, and sharing within academia. We will highlight artistic practice as research and the act of creation as a form of knowledge in and of itself.

Research-creation is an approach to research that engages artistic expression, scholarly investigation, curiosity, and experimentation. Research topics are selected and explored through a creation process, such as the production of a film or video, performance or installation, sound-work, zine, or multimedia arts/texts. In this course, research-creation will be framed as an intervention and invitation for scholars to push disciplinary boundaries, challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about what academic work entails, and consider ways to make their work more sustainable, accessible, and responsive to issues concerning social justice. Special attention will be given to research-creation projects that critically address the ways in which gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, age, religion, dis/ability and other intersecting categories of difference shape our experiences of the world. The course will pair reading-based discussions with examples of research-creation in practice, and engage with broader discussions concerning methodology, engaged scholarship, and ethics. To this end, this course will include presentations by scholars and practitioners from inside and outside of academia. By bringing lived experiences to the fore with research-creation in practice, this course aims to highlight the possibilities, as well as the pitfalls, of research-creation.

Application deadline & discounts

Apply before 19 December 2021. Early Bird Discount of €50 valid until the 1st of October 2021.

Learning objectives

At the end of this course, participants will:

  • Gain a deeper understanding of the potential possibilities and pitfalls of research-creation.
  • Gain a broader perspective on research methods and ways to “go public” with/share research findings.
  • Challenge normalised assumptions about how to “do” research.
  • Cultivate a critical perspective of academia, academic research, and collaboration.
  • Consider the ethical implications of research-creation and how to go about the research-creation process with care and intention.
  • Feel inspired to pursue research-creation within their scholarship.
  • Be prepared to write either a research-creation proposal or undertake a research-creation project.

You can find more information about the winter school here.