A shift towards collaboration
When I initiated this research site in the Fall of 2020, life for many was in a state of upheaval. COVID-19 was spreading uncertainty and death across the globe. The murder of George Floyd earlier that Spring had resulted in protests against police brutality and white supremacy in the US and in many other countries. The 2020 Presidential election brought with it an increase in political division and social unrest.
At my university, the Fall of 2020 also saw an unprecedented number of retrenchment letters delivered to tenure-track and tenured faculty. With these retrenchments came a university-wide restructuring which saw the closing of many ‘underperforming’ programs, including all Masters-level programs in the Department of Art and Design.
Each of these events deeply affected me. Personally, I felt that my ability to curtail a global pandemic could be achieved by wearing a mask and getting vaccinated against COVID-19, even though these acts are small in scale. Professionally, my ability to bring about meaningful social change would be best achieved by continuing to scrutinize my own teaching through the lens of anti-racist approaches to teaching and learning. In addition, I felt that the changing landscape of higher education in my state, and the US in general, required a shift in my approach to research. I therefore decided to focus on working more collaboratively with artists, designers, art educators, and researchers.
In the Winter of 2020 I reached out to a number of colleagues in the field of art education, to see if they had any interest in working in a similar manner. Many were enthusiastic about the possibilities that this collaboration would provide for them, their students, and the field of art education in general. As a result, the Digital Visual Studies website has shifted from being an outlet for my personal research, towards a collaborative research site for like-minded individuals to share ideas, collaborate on research projects, and gather resources.
One year after setting up the Digital Visual Studies site, I am eager to see the how the site will evolve and change through collaboration by the participants. Please look at ‘Who is Digital Visual Studies’ for more information on the current list of collaborators. We will be announcing projects for 2022 in the near future. Also, if you are interested in becoming a collaborator, please email bob@digitalvisualstudies.net for more information on how you can contribute to the site.
