ABOUT THE PROJECT
Commissioned by the Arts & Humanities Research Institute as a piece of rapid research in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, and supported by the College's Service team, this project, led by Dr Anna Khlusova, provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact of digitalisation for humanities research and public engagement.
The onset of the pandemic, which closed universities and saw the introduction of a mandatory work-from-home policy, has certainly challenged us to re-think our usual practices and consider new creative ways of working, learning and connecting with each other and with different communities beyond the boundaries of the academy. In response to this pressing need, this project explores the implications of using digital methods of public engagement for arts and humanities research and asks whether and how online technology is facilitating and adapting the existing socially engaged research practices of academics in this field.
RESEARCH AIMS
By analysing King’s College London’s digital public engagement activities in action, this study aims to achieve two main goals.
Firstly, it evaluates the significance of digital technology as an engagement tool for arts and humanities researchers and stresses the opportunities and challenges that come from delivering public engagement in virtual environments. Within this discussion, the study addresses the following questions:
- What are the implications of delivering public engagement online? In particular, what are the conceptual and practical implications of online communities rather than face-to-face interactions?
- How can we use technology to communicate humanities research in a more engaging way and build collaboration / knowledge co-production in virtual realms?
- What challenges - instructional, practical or ethical or otherwise - do scholars face as they move to digital platforms to deliver their research?
As the study addresses the above questions, key skills gaps and opportunities for improving the future practice will be identified.
The second aim of the study is to inform action and change and offer practical solutions and strategies of use to universities and community partners employing digital methods for their public-facing and socially engaged research activities.
The significance of the project therefore lies in drawing attention to the wider potential of digital formats, with implications for the College that will last well beyond the Covid-19 crisis.
WHAT IS INVOLVED?
For its analysis, the project has focused on three online public engagement projects conducted by KCL researchers:
a) an online conference;
b) a series of online workshops;
c) a larger digital project that includes several online engagement activities designed to strategize and deliver alternative cultural experiences in the time of Covid-19.
Different in scale, size and overall objectives, these three case studies have offered a varied range of perspectives on technological, organizational, and cultural opportunities and implementation barriers that accompany digital public engagement – including those issues that are specific to King's and the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
Furthermore, to situate the study within a wider context and to ensure that it corresponds to the most current thinking on digital engagement and humanities research, Anna has been in conversation with Being Human Festival (the UK’s national festival of the humanities) about their digital strategies and contingency plans.
For each case study, data have been collected in cycles according to the four-phased process of action research: ‘planning, acting, observing, and reflecting’. In the first stage, two strategies to enable cross-case comparison were developed: a common evaluation form for reporting on each case study and a semi-structured qualitative interview script to guide each case study examination. The aim was to enable participants to share meaningful experiences while stimulating a reflective process and informal, honest conversations.
The second and third stages of the action research process involved the use of observation methods - attending and actively participating in planning meetings for each case study example and direct observation of planned public engagement activities / event(s). Lastly, following observations a final set of qualitative interviews were conducted. Participants provided feedback on their own practices and skillsets and were encouraged to contribute in identifying suitable solutions for change and improvement.