Amsterdam, Netherlands

Research-creation: Critique, Care, and Collaboration Through Creative Practice

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

We will explore research-creation as a critique of entrenched and normative ways of thinking, knowing, doing, and sharing within academia.
We will also assess its potential as a trans-disciplinary approach to contributing critical, creative scholarship.

Research-creation is an approach to research that engages artistic expression, scholarly investigation, curiosity, and experimentation where the process of creation is integral to the research process. This means that research topics are selected and explore the act of creation, such as the production of a film or video, performance or installation, sound-work (e.g. podcast, sound walking), zine, or multimedia arts/texts.

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 in 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.

Course leader

Alexandra Greene

Target group

Open to Master’s students, PhD candidates, and professionals from all disciplines.
This course is aimed at Master’s students and PhD candidates with an interest in qualitative research and a desire to merge the critical and the creative. Participants should come prepared to read, discuss, practise, and create.

If you have doubts about your eligibility for the course, please contact us via graduatewinterschool@vu.nl.

Course aim

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.

Credits info

3 EC
Contact hours: 40

Fee info

EUR 1050: Tuition fees two-week course

VU Students/PhD candidates and employees of VU Amsterdam* or an Aurora Network Partner €700
Students at Partner Universities of VU Amsterdam €950
Students and PhD candidates at non-partner universities of VU Amsterdam €1050
Professionals €1250

Early Bird offer
Applications received before 15 March (14 March CET 23:59) receive €50 Early Bird discount!

Scholarships

VU Amsterdam Summer School offers two kinds of scholarships: the Equal Access Scholarship and the Photographer Scholarship. More information can be found on the VU Amsterdam Summer School website.