Rebels with a cause: meet the researchers finding new ways to present their work

A group of researchers are rebelling against traditional forms of academic output and are using different art forms to present their findings to a wider audience; and they are advocating for other researchers to follow their lead. In their new book, Doing Rebellious Research - In and beyond the Academy academic researchers from all over the world have ‘risen and rebelled’ against the traditional model of research delivery paper that they see as outdated. According to one of the book’s authors and senior lecturer in creative education at RMIT, David Rousell, ‘rebellious research’ can be defined as research that departs from academic conventions. That departure happens in terms of thinking, theorisation, methods and techniques, and “importantly” in terms of its presentation, delivery mode and format. "But there is still the need to preserve the integrity of research as quality, innovation, thought and practise, while also extending it to different practices that people do in their everyday lives," Rousell told Campus Review. In their book, derived from a series of online seminars hosted by Cambridge University, participants had the opportunity to exchange their ways of doing academic research through creative practice, and performed their research ‘artistically’. Researchers from all around the world have shared examples of how they have used graphic design, letter writing, poetry, blogging, journaling, filmmaking and music as a medium to deliver their research. In addition to the more ‘classic’ forms of art, some researchers have used magic or circus art – like Stockholm’s academics who used the circus medium to study different potentials of the human body and interactions with objects and physical forces. According to Rousell, rebellious research offers the ability for academics to develop new skills, new concepts and tools for their own research practice. “If you want to develop some fictional or creative nonfiction writing, or experiment with the use of photography, any of those practices can be areas to develop your skill set and your ways of thinking. “They become your toolbox as a researcher,” he said. By using art forms to deliver their findings, Rousell believes academics would be able to make their research more relevant, more engaged, and less distanced from the people and places that it is working with. “What we are seeing particularly in Australia, is a kind of defunding of basic research or research that doesn't have an impact or isn't able to connect with wider public concerns,” Rousell said. “I think we've reached a time when academia can't just sit on the side or outside and just comment on things from its own position. “Engaging with people in global problems like climate change; in the conversations and the thinking around those problems has never been more important. “And actually valuing that so that there's less of a hierarchy, less of an idea that academics are somehow doing work that is above or outside of social life. “Academia actually needs to be involved and engaged with the communities and the problems in the world that it's working on, working with and working for,” he said. The authors argue that traditional academic papers are not the future of research as only academics read these journals. In a research paper, limitations can be found around the format, Rousell said, and peer journals always have certain formatting constraints to respect, which can be complicated to work around with unconventional forms of presenting research. “Even for our book, we had to work with the publisher to actually reset their formatting and typeface designs to allow for different fonts and colours to be used in the text, and on the pages.” In addition to being limited by the format, Rousell believes there are often certain conventions to respect in regards to the presentation of empirical data or material which lead to the development of cohesive arguments. “These are things that I would look for if I'm reviewing a paper as well. But I guess the question is how do we do that in a high quality sophisticated way, but differently? “How can we use, for instance, filmmaking to show or perform empirical data that tells us something very real about a social context without having to necessarily use words to describe it but just show it?” According to Rousell, certain fields of study such as art, design, architecture and other creative industries are already familiar with ‘rebellious research’ as they often submit their creative work as research. Creative works are perhaps less prevalent in fields like education and social sciences, yet Rousell believes a switch is slowly but surely happening in these fields as well. “We're thinking about these types of creative practices as social research, social interventions and social impact transformative at the level of society, and our understanding of society.” In order for people to use more creative work to present their findings, Rousell suggests that there might be a need to work hand in hand with journals that are highly ranked. “So that way, we are all getting, I guess, the institutional credit for publishing in those high-level or high ranking publication outlets. “But we're also moving the conversation forward in terms of what can be published in those spaces and the type of creative work that can be used.” According to Rousell, rebellious research is also about being more engaged holistically with the teaching that happens in universities and with the different actors that play a part in the university journey. “This makes me think about the role of the university in all of these global changes; how does an institution that is so complex and has this long history, how does it start to actually change the way that it engages and is engaged with the public? “Creativity and more open and engaged practices can be part of reshaping the university as a space that is really open to different publics, ideas and different ways of doing things,” Rousell said. In addition to reshaping how academics deliver their findings, Rousell believes that research thinking should be taught in any discipline and to all students from the beginning of their university journey. “The initial introductory engagement with research thinking is so important for anyone going through a degree. “It's not just about learning the subject or the discipline, but actually learning about how you do research in that area.” In their book, the group of researchers does not only advocate for academics to use creative arts as a form of research but also to use this creativity to bring research into all kinds of teaching from young early childhood up through higher education. “It's about using creative practices as a way to help people learn how to think like researchers, or even to realise that they already are thinking like researchers in different parts of their lives. “Developing research as a life practice is key," Rousell said.