Announcements and Plenary Address – Building Research in “New Shapes” and Engaging Diverse Audiences: The Transformative Potential of Arts-Based Research
Location
Knight Auditorium
Format Type
Plenary
Start Date
January 2015
End Date
January 2015
Abstract
The word "shape" speaks to the form of our work but also the way that the form shapes the content and how that content is received by audiences. In order to address different issues successfully and communicate effectively with diverse audiences, we need to be able to see in different shapes and to produce knowledge in different shapes. In this presentation I suggest that innovative qualitative researchers are responding to a call to transform knowledge-building practices in order to make the products of social research publicly accessible. This requires us to transform the way that we think about doing and disseminating research. There is a practical and ethical mandate for doing work that has the potential to reach non-academic stakeholders, to be of value to those within and beyond the academy, and even to touch our own hearts. After making this case I suggest arts-based research is one emergent paradigm that offers tools for accomplishing these goals. I offer an overview of arts-based research including: what it is, strengths, research design options, exemplars and evaluation criteria. Attention is also paid to the multiple ways we may disseminate our research in order to broaden its impact, including traditional academic articles, artistic renderings and poplar writings such as op-eds and blogs.
Announcements and Plenary Address – Building Research in “New Shapes” and Engaging Diverse Audiences: The Transformative Potential of Arts-Based Research
Knight Auditorium
The word "shape" speaks to the form of our work but also the way that the form shapes the content and how that content is received by audiences. In order to address different issues successfully and communicate effectively with diverse audiences, we need to be able to see in different shapes and to produce knowledge in different shapes. In this presentation I suggest that innovative qualitative researchers are responding to a call to transform knowledge-building practices in order to make the products of social research publicly accessible. This requires us to transform the way that we think about doing and disseminating research. There is a practical and ethical mandate for doing work that has the potential to reach non-academic stakeholders, to be of value to those within and beyond the academy, and even to touch our own hearts. After making this case I suggest arts-based research is one emergent paradigm that offers tools for accomplishing these goals. I offer an overview of arts-based research including: what it is, strengths, research design options, exemplars and evaluation criteria. Attention is also paid to the multiple ways we may disseminate our research in order to broaden its impact, including traditional academic articles, artistic renderings and poplar writings such as op-eds and blogs.
Comments
Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is an independent scholar, novelist and public speaker (formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Founding Director of Gender Studies and Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology at Stonehill College). She has published fourteen non-fiction books including the best-seller Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice, Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research: Using Problem-Centered Methodologies, Fiction as Research Practice, and The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research. She has also published two arts-based novels with Sense Publishers, American Circumstance and Sense's top-selling title, Low-Fat Love. She is the editor for five book series including Understanding Qualitative Research with Oxford University Press and the arts-based series Social Fictions with Sense Publishers. Frequently called on by the media, she has appeared on national television, radio, is regularly quoted by the news media, publishes op-eds and is a blogger for The Huffington Post, The Creativity Post and We Are The Real Deal. The New England Sociological Association named her the "2010 New England Sociologist of the Year" and she has recently been announced as the recipient of a 2014 Special Achievement Award given by the American Creativity Association for her work advancing arts-based research. For more information please visit www.patricialeavy.com.