& we are back
An academic said to me today „The joys of academia are that you never quite know what’s going on. And once you figure it out, you are confused again” – and I think this is a great start back into the semester folks! I hope everyone had a lovely break, well-deserved relaxation, and some refreshing discussions over the holidays.
I had a lovely, but very warm, time in Austria with (surprisingly) little snow and such warm weather that we got our bikes out (and the winter crampons stayed in). I think the holidays was a good chance to refuel and I certainly feel like I have a bit of a clearer idea of where my project is going. Or better – I have 2. Which I will briefly outline below.
Furthermore, I have made a bit of an advance on my post-MSc plans and applied to a few programmes and PhD’s. And now I’m ready to lean back and see what happens and if nothing happens, I can get back to my love for lists and plans at the end of semester 2, right? I also spread my fascination for some of the literature that’s relevant to our degree & super interesting new reports such as “Earth 4 All” which my friends from home and it was nice to see that took great interest. Because I am aware that we live in a bit of an academic bubble and while at home is certainly also a bubble, it is nice to see that even medics and kindergarten teachers find out subjects highly relevant and want to know more. Thus I think one could argue – there’s chance for great science communication here *haha* INSERT: I have to add this (after a phone call with my dad yesterday) – for one of our modules I looked at the 15min city concept and thought it was utterly fascinating. My dad even liked it, started to do research and now (as part of work) ended up in conversation with local governments mentioning it – so the passion is certainly spreading.
Right – here are my two ideas, without further ado:
Idea 1: I have refined my science communication project idea. In particular, I would like to do some research on narrative story telling with regards to science communication. Thus how, particularly the local impacts of climate change, can be communicated and whether that is a potential approach to have local impact which animates people to change their behaviour. Therefore, I would first do a more traditional literature review and then feed my insights into “an attempt to produce for narrative storytelling” by taking portraits of people across Scotland while in conversation with them. About what climate change means to them. How it affects their lives. What they worry about, but also where they see possibilities. Depending on what they tell me I would like to back their stories up with numbers and data, visualising it in an easy-digestible way and maybe layering the visualisations over the portraits using photoshop. Furthermore, I image the portraits to be shot in front of a black background and having colourful light features on the participants faces. Or would a natural setting be better? Thought on this? Last but not least, I think it could obviously be interesting to actually try and organise an exhibition and then distribute surveys amongst the visitors. However, I don’t think this is feasible within the time we have. What do you think? Or do I need to be collecting data myself to analyse? Could I do this as part of the conversations or is that a major privacy concern?
Idea 2: My dad has recently organised a talk for some of this clients at work. And he invited a keynote speaker who talks EXACTLY about what we study (he does also often send me articles or books which then happen to show up in our readings lists haha). One point the keynote speaker made really stuck with me. Bitcoin in the western world is often seen as something highly damaging for the environment and I have even recently been in an art gallery in Copenhagen where the exhibit discussed this very aspect of Bitcoin. Thus, personally I have always been very critical of it myself. However, the keynote speaker pointed out that e.g. in areas of South America where the system is corrupt or excludes certain parts of the population this can be an immense chance. It gives people a parallel system in which they can accelerate and thrive whereas otherwise they might not have had access to the resources necessary for their undertakings. This struck me as highly interesting, and I was thinking that it would be a good idea to write about how digitalisation offer alternatives ways and potential solutions to a more inclusive society. I am not sure what methodology I would use. I mean theoretically it would be super exciting to go ethnographic research abroad how these technologies really operate in a specific context e.g. rural Venezuela. However, I am not sure this is feasible in the time we have. Nevertheless, it’s one of two routes I want to keep in mind and ponder on a little bit. What do you think about this?
With that I will scoot off to do some other uni work, but I wish you all a fabulous weekend & if you are in Edinburgh: Can you believe how sunny it is? *yay*
#lilac
So excited for you and your interesting, ambitious plans ahead! Keeping my fingers crossed for you! And gosh your dad seems really cool 🙂
The point about bitcoin is interesting, I took a course in FinTech during my undergraduate, and was also surprised to hear about all the possibilities for DLT’s for “good” like financial inclusion (for example banks often exclude people under a certain income bar or who doesn’t have the required capital, which some fintech solutions don’t require), or for remittance payments (the banking system is suuuper cumbersome when it comes to long-distance money transfers, but many fintech solutions are designed to exclude intermediaries and make remittances much more affordable) list goes on! Really interesting to see what that sector does to disrupt big banks 🙂
Very important question: Which part of Austria, Kass? (My in-laws are in Vorarlberg–going to swing by this summer now that China’s finally back open).
Completely agree with Cajsa that your dad sounds really cool.
Thoughts on idea 1: By literature review, are you proposing reviewing the literature on climate change or the literature on how science is communicated to non-science people? As to the project itself, have you tackled something like this before and/or how comfortable/familiar are you with photography? Depending on the output, I could see the portraits working either way. Because you asked for thoughts on this (and I apologize–I just happen to have a journalism/photojournalism background, so many thoughts on “technical” bits in this area): If your plan is to travel across Scotland and you want to do the black background w/ colored lights idea then you’re going to be traveling with the minimum of a camera setup + lights + a black drape + stands for lights & drape. Some of these things you can rig a bit, like it’s possible to get a really small multicolored LED and maybe you have the subject actually hold it and shine it on themselves or maybe you use things you find in different areas & drape a black sheet over them for your background. Just a bit more planning involved in that set up (though certainly they’re tacklable and I have no doubt you’re perfectly capable of dealing with those issues). How will you be selecting the people? Are you pulling them randomly off the street and convincing them to talk to you? Having an elaborate setup could work either way. If you have it in a public space, people might be curious and come to talk to you or they might be intimidated and keep their distance. If find someone on the street, arrange to talk to them later, and then show up with a lot of gear and set up a background and mess around with lights, it’s possible they could clam up on the interview. Given that your, kinda, theme seems to be climate change. Having an environmental portrait (so person + surroundings) feels, just offhand, like it would be more relevant to the topic but maybe not so conducive if you want the portrait to be a collage of portrait + other visualizations. I would offer maybe trying some test portraints with people you know in both styles and seeing what resonates most? As to the exhibition, you’re on track to wrap this up this year, right? Could be piling a lot on your plate, but on the other hand EFI may already be set up to support student exhibitions to make them easier to do. Maybe it could be held in conjunction with some other student projects.
Idea 2: Have you checked out already what organizations and/or researchers are working in this area? I suppose I would start there, not just to see what’s already been done, but to look for where possible partners/mentors/resources might lay.
The tension between the impact bitcoin has on the environment and the potential it has for inclusion/equality is really good problem to look at. I agree with your concern about feasibility of field research but there’s a lot to unpack with these concepts that wouldn’t require that. If there’s someone out there that has done something along these lines, perhaps you can contact them, tell them what you’re studying and think through something that uses their work as a starting point.