Now that we’ve discussed the benefits and risks of thinking about theory and methods rigorously, systematically, capaciously, and promiscuously, let’s consider how that exploration and experimentation can — and should — be driven by our epistemological and ethical commitments, perhaps even by values contrary to the predominant “operating principles” of our field and of higher education as a whole. How might we choose or design methods for conducting, expressing, and sharing our work that reflect the values central to our own practices — and the values that could define how research circulates within and informs the broader intellectual landscape and our social and material worlds?
WORKSHOP, 5:30-6:30pm: Matt Parker, Gilbert Seldes Multimodal Postdoctoral Fellow in Annenberg [personal website], and Carrie Hutnick, Executive Director of Penn’s Civic House, will be joining us, and, with Shannon, we’ll talk about our commitments to open-access scholarship, public engagement, creative research, environmental stewardship, social justice and other values.
TO PREPARE FOR TODAY:
- Reminder: Please remember to sign up for your liaison group! 🙂
- Share one of your three reading responses by noon, if you like.
Critiquing Prevalent Institutional Values:
- Skim through some of the titles in Greg Britton, Jeffrey Williams, and Christopher Newfield’s “Critical University Studies” book series for Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Skim through the website for my 2022 Redesigning the Academy course.
How Do Institutions Define Ethics + Accountability?
- Skim through the contents of Ron Iphofen and Martin Tolich’s SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research Ethics (SAGE, 2018).
- Skim through the University of Pennsylvania’s Human Research Protection Program site — particularly the Guidance for Student Researchers in Social Behavioral Research. Contrast this approach to “ethics review” with Liboiron’s concern with “right relations.” If you’re interested to know more about the critiques of traditional institutional review boards, check out our Arena on Institutional Review Boards.
Establishing Other Values-Enacted Frameworks:
- Nicky Agate, Rebecca Kennison, Stacy Konkiel, Christopher P. Long, Jason Rhody, Simone Sacchi, and Penelope Weber, “The Transformative Power of Values-Enacted Scholarship,” Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 7 (2020) (thanks to Jason Rhody!).
Valuing Diverse Forms of Knowledge Production, Public Engagement and Inclusivity:
- Shannon Mattern, “Forms of Scholarship: Multimodal,” Words in Space (2010) [When I have more time 😫, I’ll incorporate more of these newer resources, which you needn’t read but are welcome to skim].
- Dominic Boyer and Cymene Howe, “Natalie Loveless,” Cultures of Energy [podcast] 184 (July 4, 2019): start @ 13:00. Loveless is the author of How to Make Art at the End of the World: A Manifesto for Research-Creation (Duke University Press, 2019); you might choose to read the book at a later date.
- What resources exist at Penn to support multimodal work? Check out Penn’s Price Lab for Digital Humanities, Penn Libraries’ Education Commons (crafting and makerspaces), and CAMRA, the Collective for Advancing Multimodal Research Arts, here at Penn.
- We’ll also talk about citation politics and public and open scholarship in our lesson on writing and publishing in a few weeks.
Optional for PhD Students: Valuing a More Pluralistic Academic Trajectory:
- Katina L. Rogers, Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: Thriving in and Beyond the Classroom (Duke University Press, 2020): especially “Expanding Definitions of Scholarly Success,” 57-75; “Students: How to Put Your PhD to Work,” 101-27; and “Ten Ways to Begin,” 131-6.
- Stacy M. Hartman and Bianca C. Williams, “The Future of Doctoral Education: Four Provocations for a More Just and Sustainable Academy,” Los Angeles Review of Books (May 29, 2023).
I’ll share these in class:
- Aydelotte Foundation.
- The DIY Methods project and the Low-Carbon Methods Research Group.
- Emily Esten, “Parsing Process,” CommonPlace (April 5, 2023).
- Shannon Mattern, “Surveillance Space: Urban Infrastructures of Control,” The Architectural Review (August 5, 2024).
- Steven Mintz, “Student Activism as a Catalyst for Institutional Reflection,” Inside Higher Education (May 2, 2024).