Research Creation - Critique, Care, and Collaboration through Creative Practice

Overview

In the course, Research Creation - Critique, Care, and Collaboration through Creative Practice at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, research-creation is an approach to research that engages artistic expression, scholarly investigation, curiosity, and experimentation. In practice, this means that research topics are selected and explored through a creation process, such as photography, the production of a film or video, performance or installation, sound-work, zine, recipe, or multimedia arts/texts.  Research-creation is important in a variety of fields, cultural institutions, and disciplines. In recent years, universities have used it to boost their public profiles and promote community-engaged collaborations. That being said, the increasing institutionalization of research-creation must be approached critically, and situated within a broader context of power relations within academia, education, and research. 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 engage critique, care, and collaboration, and critically address the ways in which gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, age, religion, dis/ability and other intersecting categories. The course will incorporate reading-based discussions, hands-on creative workshops, and examples of research-creation in practice, in an effort to engage broader discussions concerning methodology, scholarship, and ethics. To this end, this course will include presentations by scholars and practitioners from inside and outside of academia.

Learning objectives

By the end of this course, students will:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the possibilities and pitfalls of research-creation.
• Gain a broader perspective on research methods and ways to “go public” with/share research findings.
• Challenge normalized 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.