Summer School Diversity in Arts, Culture and Media Studies

On the 2nd and 3rd of June 2022 the Erasmus School of History Culture and Communication, the Erasmus Graduate School of Social Sciences and the Structured Doctoral Program of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (sdp - mdw) will jointly organize a summer school on diversity in arts, culture and media studies. The first day will consist of workshops for Early Career Researchers. On the second day we will organize a symposium which is more broadly accessible. Both the workshops and symposium are aimed to reflect on the challenges that researchers face through the practice of researching diversity.

Description:

How do you approach diversity in your research practice, methodologies, writings, public talks and presentations? In this two-day summer school early career researchers and senior researchers from the field of arts and culture studies will be working together on questions of language, positionality, conceptualization and operationalization of diversity with the aim of promoting a more sensible, empathetic and honest research practice.

During the first day, participants will be invited to take part in workshops organized by three experts in the field. Besides presentations on the topics by the experts, participants will get the opportunity present their research and get feedback from peers and experts on the issues they have run into during their research.

In the second day, we invite experienced researchers from different disciplines and different standpoints to reflect on the contribution of research to the issue of diversity in arts and culture studies. This will be discussed in three panels divided by three themes.

Aims of the summer school:

  • Provide a safe space for the discussion of issues encountered during the research process.
  • Promote the exchange of experiences and best practices.
  • Promote an intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue between early-career and senior researchers.
  • Discuss different strategies and methodologies for approaching diversity in the arts and cultural studies.

Topics:

  • Positionality: How to approach issues of gender, ethnicity and cultural diversity from your own position as a researcher? How can you approach your own bias?
  • Language: How to talk, present and participate in the field while remaining empathetic to your research participants? How to use language in your own descriptions and approaches to the field? What should we avoid? How do we ask difficult questions?
  • Conceptualization: What are some of the most useful concepts in diversity research in arts? Can we as researchers rely on such conceptualizations of the field? How to acknowledge the bias of conceptualization of research while aiming to get something out of it?
  • Operationalization: How much can we reduce the diversity of the field to categories? How do we work with variables and categories? How to communicate variables and categories with research participants?
  • Perspectives: What is the state of research on diversity in the arts? How do different fields approach the concept of diversity? What can we learn from each other?
  • Contexts: How has diversity been researched in different countries? How can contexts affect the notions of diversity? Is knowledge on diversity transferrable? How can we provide relevant reflections of the contexts where the arts take place?
  • Solutions: How to involve managers, institutions, funding agencies and other stakeholders in our research? How do we include their perspectives? How do we reflect on their actions towards solutions or new ideas in the field?

Where:

Participants and workshops givers will be required to travel to Rotterdam to participate in the Summer School physically. The Symposium will have a hybrid format with speakers participating online and face-to-face.

When: 2nd and 3rd of June 2022 – 9:30 to 17:30

Participation fee: 30 euros

Suitable for:

We encourage early-career researchers (Master, PhD and Post-doc students) who focus on diversity in their research in the field of arts, culture or media studies to apply.

How to apply: Please register online on the website of the Graduate School of Social Sciences and Humanities: https://www.egsh.eur.nl/doctoral-education/phd-course-guide/summer-school-diversity-in-arts-culture-and-media-studies/

Deadline: March 11, 2022

Workshop Leaders:

  • Raphaela Henze (University of Heilbronn)
  • Juliaan Schaap (Erasmus University of Rotterdam)
  • Lieke Hettinga (University of Utrecht)

 

Symposium Speakers:

  • Lisa Gaupp
  • Adeola Enigbokan (online)
  • Pauwke Berkers
  • Antonio Cuyler (online)
  • Sandra Trienekens
  • Christina Scharff (online)

 

More information: Please contact us to the emails swartjes@eschh.eur.nl or escobar-campos@mdw.ac.at