This course actively teams up with ongoing research of the [urban interfaces] research group, a network of media and performance studies scholars, professional artists and designers, (media) ethnographers, cultural theorists, and PhD students. [urban interfaces] investigates urban transformations from the perspective of mobile and locational art, media and performance in urban contexts, using research methods such as playful mapping, audiovisual documentation, performance analysis and the development of a theoretical and critical vocabulary.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, cultural researchers have been concerned with how transport and communication technologies, rapid urbanization and massive social upheavals impact social mobility, civic engagement and modes of belonging. Today, globalization, the spread of information technologies in the urban domain, and the debate on participatory culture and civic engagement spur a further mobilization of urban culture, identity and publics. Both scholars as well as artists and designers enquire into how urban space invites collaborative and playful practices of resistance, appropriation and/or engagement. By productively exploring mutual similarities and differences in concerns, methods, concepts, and skills, [urban interfaces] seeks to investigate urban transformations in a methodologically innovative manner.
Students will develop their own research in relation to current urban media, art and/or performance projects. They can also participate in ongoing research projects, such as the Connecting Cities/Connecting Neighbourhoods project, on the inclusive, interactive and creative potential of digital technologies, and Urban Heat on art, activism and the public sphere. We will in particularly explore the potential of collaborative research and of crossdisciplinary methodologies.
This is not a NICA core activity but an elective announced on this site solely for your information. You should register for this course through the university that offers it, and the credits you will earn will also be given out by that university. If your program includes a requirement to earn credits from a national research school, the credits for this elective do not count towards that requirement. You may need to acquire the permission of your program coordinator and/or board of examinations in order to participate and earn credits for this elective.