Reading the article by Willcocks & Mahonon (2023) on the use of botanical illustrations from the archive collections at UAL to teach/reveal intersectional climate and post-colonial social justice occasions, was really inspiring and made me think about the ways in which my current practice might learn from this. I thought specifically about a session I have with MA Publishing students where we learn how to carry out an analysis of a research field in preparation for carrying out similar authority work on the research field of their dissertation. Part of this class employs the use of fun to carry out such an analysis (Whitton & Langan, 2019). In groups students are given a mystery file containing a range of articles, blog pieces, trade press stories etc. normally on a hot publishing topic – cancel culture in publishing for instance. They then have to piece together the story of this research area, who, where, when and why are people writing on this topic. Which voices are missing, who has dominance on this narrative and where would you go to get better coverage of all aspects of this topic.
Looking at article’s case study I can see a real opportunity to ask these question in the framework of social justice question. Adding in props such as map plotting (used by Willcocks & Mahon) as part of the investigative game could add a focused critical insight whilst remaining playful. As a development it sits comfortably next to a sister librarian project I am working on with staff from the same course to buy a range of new items for the collection related to non-western publishing industries.
References
- Nicola Whitton & Mark Langan. (2019) Fun and games in higher education: an analysis of UK student perspectives, Teaching in Higher Education, 24:8, 1000-1013, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2018.1541885
- Willcocks, J. & Mahon, K. (2023) The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education. art, design & communication in higher education, 22(2), pp.187-207.