LFU:online

An understanding of the similarities and contrasts between tools and approaches of artistic and scientific research and how they relate to the lived reality of everyday life

This seminar takes the form of an exchange with students of Art&Science MA at the University of Applied Art in Vienna (http://artscience.uni-ak.ac.at). We will discuss the research of PhD students (Innsbruck) and MA students (Vienna) and from there consider the role of science and art in guiding decisions and directions in society. Or, put another way, how do the scientific and artistic activities relate to our everyday life? Are the abstractions of both decoupling from our lived reality and can we share a common lived reality that spans the understanding gleaned from both sides. What can we understand about the impacts of reducing the dimensions of analysis, or ways of dealing with uncertainty, or abstraction, how does the information deficit model serve society, and what other ways might be effective in strengthening public engagement with the difficulties of our time?

A possible reading list which dives deeper into philosophy and social science than most earth scientists may be used to:

Example of "Hybrid Forum"

M Callon and V Rabeharisoa, “Research ‘in the Wild’ and the Shaping of New Social Identities,” Technology in Society 25, no. 2 (2003): 193;

Science in the public space

Jane Gregory and Steve Miller, Science in Public : Communication, Culture, and Credibility (New York: Plenum Trade, 1998); p19-51 & p81-103;

About Fetish, Facts and "Factish"

Bruno Latour, “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern,” Critical Inquiry 30, no. 2 (January 2004): 225–48;

In search for alternative ways of combining representation of, and intervention in, social life

Noortje Marres, Michael Guggenheim, and Alex Wilkie, eds., Inventing the Social (Manchester: Mattering Press, 2018), 17-40 & e.g. 65-93

There will be some preparatory reading material to facilitate the discussion and then the three meetings will take the form of guided workshops including: student presentations of research topics; discussions, team and individual analysis tasks and reflection. 

The dates of the seminar workshops will be fixed with the course participants during the first week of the semester.

Period: 3 x 5 hour workshops over the semester

Mode of repetition: one-off course
Participation

Example of "Hybrid Forum"

M Callon and V Rabeharisoa, “Research ‘in the Wild’ and the Shaping of New Social Identities,” Technology in Society 25, no. 2 (2003): 193;

Science in the public space

Jane Gregory and Steve Miller, Science in Public : Communication, Culture, and Credibility (New York: Plenum Trade, 1998); p19-51 & p81-103;

About Fetish, Facts and "Factish"

Bruno Latour, “Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern,” Critical Inquiry 30, no. 2 (January 2004): 225–48;

In search for alternative ways of combining representation of, and intervention in, social life

Noortje Marres, Michael Guggenheim, and Alex Wilkie, eds., Inventing the Social (Manchester: Mattering Press, 2018), 17-40 & e.g. 65-93

This is not a course aimed at using art as a means to communicate or visualise scientific outputs, rather an exploration of how the practices of both disciplines can create innovative ways of tackling societies.