Critical Considerations
Cultural Preservation through Indigenous Storytelling: Alternatives to So-called Paternalistic "Scholarly" Ethnographies
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Laurence French, Julieta Altamirano-Crosby, Magdaleno Manzanárez
White ethnographers, anthropologists, and sociologists have dominated the historical and cultural narratives about Indigenous cultures in North America, often citing autonomous “informants.” Regardless of how sincere these narratives may seem, they are all too often presented through ethnocentric lens. Often these narratives are too widely classified by geographic or linguistic terms - therefore missing the intricate details put forth by the Indigenous storyteller. Our study focuses on the life and work of Florentina (“Tina”) Lopez de Jesus (1939-2014), an Amuzgo Indian in Xochislahuaca in the Costa Chica region of Guerrero State, Mexico. Her remarkable storytelling, conveyed through her aboriginal weaving skills, told the story of the often-forgotten Amusgo and their affiliation with the pre-Aztec, Mixtec civilization. She articulated the rich pre-Columbian arts of natural dyes, fibers, and weaving that is often associated with other Indian groups with out due credit to her group. Fortunately, recognition for her work went beyond her region and Mexico leading to International recognition, including the 2001 UNESCO Handcrafts Prize. Her oral history of the Amuzgo was conveyed to fellow Indian scholars who share her cultural heritage - notably, Juieta Altamirano-Cosby. Contrasts are made with other “scholarly” assessments of the tribes of this region as well as awareness of the problem of biases inherent in ethnocentric scholarship.
Click ‘Non-Textual Output’: Arts Based Practice-Research View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jac C. Batey
This paper explores arts based practice research from the perspective of a UK University. In this context, practice research is still fraught with complexity and communication issues. It can be challenging to confidently share insights and developments with readers outside of one’s discipline and there can be an overwhelming feeling of having to justify the value of one’s practice and to over-explain every element to underline its worth. But what does practice research offer us and how can we, in the arts, effectively communicate this to the broader academic community and beyond? Is there really a difference between practice-based and practice-led research or are there other ways to describe and share what we (academic practitioners) are actually doing? This paper draws on specific examples from UK institutions to see how various challenges of communication and justification have been addressed at PhD level, through to national research audits of academic staff, which also include considerations of the University research environment. I discuss examples of successful practice-based research outputs from the University of Portsmouth that were part of the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) a National published research audit. I show examples of how practitioners have contextualized their research outputs so that they can be ‘effectively shared’.
Compassionate Data Mining: The Search for Stories Data Cannot Tell View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ritsu Katsumata
Advertisers and marketers pursue the holy grail of identifying the target market for their products and services to accurately communicate to those who are most likely to purchase them. As early as the dawn of advertising, one can imagine the ancient Egyptians with their papyrus sales posters and Chinese oral advertising campaigns in their spoken word poetry seeking the right venue for maximizing their ROI. As an economic engine for capitalism, advertising media and strategies have evolved since, but the accurate identification of the target market has been elusive. Most recently, big data and algorithmic calculations have determined what ads we see and hear - this paper seeks to shed light on the shortcomings of this technology, and shows how empathy is needed to find common narratives within individual and community subjectives. Contrary to conventional wisdom, observing and speaking with a few individuals can result in a more effective marketing strategy than big data algorithms. Qualitative data with empathetic active listening helps us understand WHY people do the things they do, while big quantitative data shows WHEN, WHAT and HOW they do the things they do. This is at the heart of human centered design methodologies.
