Location

Room G.04 (Digital Media Lab)

Clothworkers Building North, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds

Date

13 May 2020

Time

12:00 pm - 4:00 pm

CANCELLED Digital Methods Workshops: Sensory Ethnography

This workshop has been organised by the Data, Communication & New Technologies (DCT) Pathway and involves Advanced Qualitative Methods (AQUALM). It is open to students across all 7 interdisciplinary Pathways within the White Rose Universities.

The Digital Methods Workshops series: These are introductory and interactive workshops designed to explore and critically think about digital methods, digital literacy and digital expertise. Students will learn some basics about digital methods and have a go at doing them as part of the workshop. They are designed to be introductory sessions, so best suited to level one or two students, although the discussions on critical reflection and literacy is appropriate for all levels. Those who want to add methods to an existing toolkit are also welcome.

This workshop will explore the potential for embodied sensory experiences to both structure and reveal the power relationships present within society. It will involve asking critical questions about the social and cultural significance of different sensory modalities and the challenges associated with studying them. We will address the complex and entangled relationships between sensory experiences encountered in the field, the later analysis of those experiences through different modes of representation and the problems associated their translation into academic knowledge. Following an introduction to some key theoretical issues and debates, we will interrogate the sensory experience of a nearby location using digital tools and then reflect upon what we have learned. Please bring with you whatever ‘technologies’ you might use to document your experiences. These might include cameras, smartphones, sound recording equipment, art materials, or even simply a pen and paper.

Workshop Leader

Dr Tom Jackson

Lecturer in Digital Media

Tom Jackson is a Lecturer in Digital Media in the School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds. His research interests include sensory ethnography, cross-modal perception, anthropology, cultural geography, immersive technologies, new/digital media, field recording and the virtual archive.

Workshop Organiser

Dr Helen Thornham

Associate Professor, University of Leeds

Helen Thornham is an Associate Professor in Digital Cultures and has written widely about issues of gender, embodiment and technology. Helen joined the School of Media and Communication in 2011 from City University London where she was a lecturer in Media and Sociology. Her research centers on issues of gender and digital technology; STS; feminist new media theories; digital methods and critical data studies.
Helen has recently published a book on ‘Gender and Digital Culture: Between Irreconcilability and the Datalogical’ (Routledge).

PLEASE NOTE: Students are responsible for arranging travel to and from these Pathway Specific Training sessions. The WRDTP cannot reimburse travel costs to these sessions.