The myriad complexities difference entails can hardly be overestimated: it is a lived, practiced, embodied, and observed phenomenon that deserves a careful methodological and analytical approach. Visual methodologies offer a wide range of possibilities when it comes addressing diverse aspects and meanings of difference.
What passes for different – and why? How do we locate difference? How do we visualize it? How do we make sense of difference spatially and temporally in urban and migration contexts? How do we make sense of visual markers of difference? How is difference produced through visualizations? How can we critically engage with visual production of difference?
Our two-day workshop brings together international researchers, activists, and artists tackling the notion of difference with visual and visualization methods. The aim of the workshop is to share research conducted with visual methodologies and to collectively develop new ideas and strategies on how visual methods can enhance our understanding of contemporary social worlds. In the three thematic sessions we will discuss the latest methodological developments in social sciences, innovative visual and participatory research tools, and co-operation possibilities between academia and art. Beyond sharing their work, in each session speakers will be asked to reflect on the relevance of aesthetic qualities of the visual materials they gather and produce.
In the two trouble-shooting labs graduate students and early career researchers (selected through a call for papers) will have an opportunity to discuss their current research projects in a collegial and supportive atmosphere with visual methods experts and practitioners. Before attending the workshop, all presenters will receive two-page descriptions of visual research case studies from the selected participants of the trouble shooting labs. All workshop participants will be asked to read the received papers and prepare their responses. We will then work together on each case study for 30-40 minutes.
The keynote speaker, Professor Caroline Knowles of Goldsmiths College, will share her expertise on visual methodologies in social sciences and offer her comments on the works presented during the workshop, as well as the discussions that followed these presentations.
The confirmed speakers include Melissa Butcher (Birkbeck College), Caroline Knowles (Goldsmiths College), Miodrag Kuc (ZK/U Berlin/European Humanities University), Agata Lisiak (Humboldt University/Bard College Berlin), Siarhei Liubimau (European Humanities University), Dawn Mannay (Cardiff University), Oliver O’Brien (University College London), and Kathrin Wildner (HafenCity University).
The workshop will take place in Berlin on 3 and 4 December 2015 and will be structured as follows:
DAY 1 (3 December 2015)
14-15.30, Session 1: In/visibility, Gender, Citizenship
How do we visually address temporal, spatial, and embodied difference? How does in/visibility link with citizenship? How does gendered social power work within transnational networks and within urban contexts? What kind of visual and participatory methods can we apply to address these questions – and how do we make sense of the images we encounter and produce in the research process?
16-17.30, Session 2: In/visibility and Urban Space
What is visible in urban space and for whom? What remains hidden – and from whom? Which visual tools can we use to grasp what is in/visible? How do visibility and visuality relate to each other? What participatory and visual approaches can we use to explore various meanings and functions assigned to urban space? How can we actively involve urban residents in research rather than simply offer them a platform to showcase their everyday experiences?
DAY 2 (4 December 2015)
10-11.30, Session 3: Detecting and Visualizing Difference
How do we notice and make sense of difference in urban space? How do we approach difference temporally and spatially? How do we visualize difference? How do we map it? How can we use participatory digital tools to visualize difference in urban contexts? How do we produce difference through visualizations?
12-14, trouble shooting lab 1: Visual Methods
15-17, trouble shooting lab 2: Visualization Tools
18.15, Keynote: Caroline Knowles (Goldsmiths College)
The sessions and the keynote will be open to the public. The trouble shooting labs will be open to workshop participants only. The entire workshop will take place in English.