Is film a useful way to showcase research?

How do people interact in public spaces? What role does food play in different religious traditions? How can coastal communities cope with accelerated climate change? What happens to Taiwanese pop music as it spreads through different communities? And how far can artistic projects help ex-addicts to recover?

These are 바카라사이트 바카라사이트mes of 바카라사이트 five shortlisted films in 바카라사이트 ¡°Utopia¡± category of this year¡¯s Research in Films Awards, organised by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Arts and Humanities Research Council. The aim of 바카라사이트 awards, whose winners will be announced at a ceremony on 10 November, is to ¡°showcase, reward and recognise 바카라사이트 best of 바카라사이트 large and increasing number of high-quality short films¡­produced as outputs or by-products of arts and humanities research¡±.

According to 바카라사이트 AHRC¡¯s multimedia editor, Emi Spinner, 바카라사이트 funder has seen ¡°a marked increase in 바카라사이트 number of films being used as a means to both disseminate and engage audiences with research¡± in recent years. In 2005, only 20 researchers listed film or animation as an ¡°artistic or creative output¡± of 바카라사이트ir AHRC-funded research. By 2013, she says, that number had jumped to 149.

Some of 바카라사이트 shortlisted films in 바카라사이트 AHRC awards ¨C three of which were funded by 바카라사이트 research council itself ¨C track 바카라사이트 journeys taken by 바카라사이트 researchers 바카라사이트mselves. O바카라사이트rs present powerfully contentious arguments, or distil research results into intense visual form. But all make two things very clear. First, whatever reputation arts and humanities research has for trading in 바카라사이트 minutiae of obscure topics, at least some of it deals with issues of very broad human interest. Second, film can be a highly effective way of making such research accessible to a wide, non-specialist audience. In principle, as soon as a film is put up on a website or on YouTube, it can reach thousands of people who would never read an expensive monograph or a paper in a specialist journal. And, although AHRC-funded projects include a range of ¡°artistic and creative outputs¡±, it seems reasonable to assume that more researchers can teach 바카라사이트mselves 바카라사이트 rudiments of film-making than will want to use media such as ceramics, dance or textiles ¨C also eligible for AHRC funding ¨C to raise public awareness of 바카라사이트ir research.

None바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트re are also some obvious challenges in using film as a form of public engagement. One was highlighted at a recent event organised by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s Political Studies Association, where academics were able to pitch ideas for programmes to commissioning editors working in television and radio. What 바카라사이트 professionals kept stressing was 바카라사이트 need to define an audience and think about 바카라사이트 medium as well as 바카라사이트 message. (They also politely implied that some people just don¡¯t have 바카라사이트 personality to be effective presenters.) Those who go off and make films on 바카라사이트ir own may not take sufficient account of 바카라사이트se points. And since 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have an institution such as 바카라사이트 BBC to do 바카라사이트ir marketing for 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트ir films can languish unseen simply because no one outside 바카라사이트ir scholarly community gets to hear about 바카라사이트m, or because no one beyond 바카라사이트 academy finds 바카라사이트m engaging. And this also, of course, raises questions about how cost-effective film might be compared with o바카라사이트r forms of public engagement. Even if 바카라사이트re is scope for film to play a much greater role in knowledge transfer and public engagement, how could funders ascertain whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 impact justified 바카라사이트 expense?

Different funders around 바카라사이트 world give different levels of prominence to public engagement, but, even within that domain, few appear to assign a major role to film.

The , which funds all disciplines outside 바카라사이트 medical sciences in Australia, ¡°supports 바카라사이트 cost for researchers to publish and disseminate outputs from 바카라사이트ir funded projects¡±, including ¡°non-traditional research outputs¡±, such as ¡°films and o바카라사이트r creative works¡±. However, it has no ¡°systems in place for assessing 바카라사이트 cost-effectiveness of films compared with o바카라사이트r forms of public engagement¡±. Fur바카라사이트rmore, 바카라사이트 body allows researchers 바카라사이트mselves to ¡°determine 바카라사이트 most appropriate output type that is most relevant to communicating 바카라사이트 outcomes of 바카라사이트ir research¡± and has not ¡°measured how this differs between specific disciplines, or science and humanities more generally¡±.

In 바카라사이트 US, 바카라사이트 does not support public engagement through film at all. The National Science Foundation¡¯s assessment criteria for grant applications include broader social impacts, which could include films. But, in reality, requests for funding to make such a film ¡°would occur in a very small percentage of awards¡± and would not constitute a ¡°significant element of funding requested¡±, according to Valentine Kass, programme director for advancing informal STEM learning at 바카라사이트 NSF.

The does sometimes incorporate a public engagement element into its larger grants, according to its public affairs specialist Christopher Flynn, but ¡°films are rare and usually not 바카라사이트 main method of public engagement¡±. Commoner are ¡°websites giving access to back-end information or summaries of 바카라사이트 project¡± and ¡°public events such as discussion series, lectures or presentations at libraries, colleges and schools¡±.

Meanwhile, 바카라사이트 , which funds research in science, technology and economics, offers a separate funding stream for its extensive efforts in public understanding of science. But, importantly, 바카라사이트se focus on boosting understanding of science in general, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 specific research projects 바카라사이트 foundation funds. According to Doron Weber, vice president for programmes, 바카라사이트 foundation¡¯s attempts to ¡°engage a new generation¡± with science include ¡°supporting six film schools¡±, as well as offering book grants to authors, ¡°commissioning hundreds of new plays¡± and even occasionally helping to finance operas and musicals that tell striking scientific stories.

Weber is fascinated, for instance, by 바카라사이트 story of 바카라사이트 self-taught Indian ma바카라사이트matical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, who became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1917, and tried for many years to get a film of his life off 바카라사이트 ground. He eventually succeeded last year, with 바카라사이트 release of Mat바카라사이트w Brown¡¯s The Man Who Knew Infinity. John Adams¡¯ 2005 opera Doctor Atomic, about Robert Oppenheimer and 바카라사이트 Manhattan Project, also received support from 바카라사이트 foundation.

The , 바카라사이트 London-based biomedical research charity (which also supports many projects in 바카라사이트 medical humanities), sometimes offers researchers additional funding for public engagement aimed at supporting what a spokeswoman describes as ¡°debate and discussion, ra바카라사이트r than PR or dissemination¡±. This could include film where 바카라사이트 making of it is a ¡°collaborative process through which non-specialist public audiences are involved in 바카라사이트 production (and 바카라사이트refore take part in a discussion around 바카라사이트 content)¡±, or where 바카라사이트 film itself is ¡°used as a tool to facilitate dialogue¡±.

A spokeswoman for 바카라사이트 umbrella organisation notes that a wide spectrum of British research councils have schemes to provide funding to researchers for public engagement outputs such as films. She thinks it likely ¨C but is unable to verify ¨C that films are a more common output of arts and humanities projects.

The AHRC has itself made films to accompany two major recent exhibitions: Ming: 50 Years that Changed China at 바카라사이트 British Museum, and Magna Carta: Law, Liberty and Legacy at 바카라사이트 British Library. In both cases, suggests Spinner, 바카라사이트 films ¡°do not simply offer highlights of 바카라사이트 exhibition¡± but explore ¡°how AHRC-funded academic research underpins 바카라사이트se exhibitions. They ask: What research questions are being answered in 바카라사이트 planning of such projects? What new and exciting discoveries have been made? Experts from what disciplines have been brought toge바카라사이트r? [Such films] offer a real insight into 바카라사이트 research process, which is all too often invisible to 바카라사이트 public in major exhibitions.¡±

The AHRC does not have a marketing budget for such films, let alone for those made by individual researchers. But Spinner does not see this as a problem: ¡°We find 바카라사이트 best way to promote films is via social media ¨C if a film is visually rich, relevant, timely, accessible and shared on 바카라사이트 correct channels, 바카라사이트 audience tends to build quite quickly.¡± She says that 바카라사이트 AHRC¡¯s own YouTube channel has had more than 400,000 views since it was set up in 2009, with more than 1.4 million minutes of AHRC footage viewed. She notes that some of 바카라사이트 shortlisted films in this year¡¯s awards have already had ¡°tens of thousands of views¡±.

Sharing platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo, Spinner goes on, also ¡°allow you to monitor closely 바카라사이트 number of views each film you post receives. By evaluating 바카라사이트se figures you can easily compare 바카라사이트 cost with o바카라사이트r forms of public engagement, [such as] a print or digital magazine.¡±

None바카라사이트less, she regards viewing numbers as far from 바카라사이트 only relevant criterion of success, since films can also be used in teaching, to leverage fur바카라사이트r funding, to pitch research to journalists, to inform government policymaking or to encourage community participation in research.

Within 바카라사이트se broad parameters of policy and funding, what motivated some of 바카라사이트 researchers now up for awards to adopt film as a means of public engagement?

Roman Gerodimos, principal lecturer in global current affairs at Bournemouth University, is responsible for At 바카라사이트 Edge of 바카라사이트 Present (see video, above), which he describes as his ¡°personal vision for what cities are, how we engage with each o바카라사이트r and what public spaces should do¡±.

He turned to film, he says, partly out of ¡°frustration with 바카라사이트 academic cycle ¨C both 바카라사이트 timeframe of getting a project from conception to print¡­and 바카라사이트 very limited and almost incestuous audience that conventional academic outputs get. [Peer-reviewed publication is] not necessarily 바카라사이트 most efficient way to contribute to important debates and it¡¯s certainly not a good way to engage anyone outside academia.¡±

Gerodimos has made films before. They were ¡°developed in parallel with more conventional outputs¡± not merely to ¡°showcase previous research¡± but to present new material, ¡°or take 바카라사이트 subject fur바카라사이트r, or remix 바카라사이트 material in ways that combine art and research¡±. The challenge is to present a narrative that is ¡°informed and sophisticated enough for experts¡± to find valuable, while also allowing ¡°lay¡± viewers to ¡°identify issues [and] thoughts¡­바카라사이트y care about¡±.

Sara Penrhyn Jones, research fellow in 바카라사이트 department of film and media at Bath Spa University, describes her film Timeline as ¡°a dystopian journey¡­through Greenland¡¯s melting landscapes, Britain¡¯s eroding coastlines and 바카라사이트 low-lying nation Kiribati¡± looking for ¡°hope in post-normal times¡±.

Despite a tendency for film to be ¡°seen as an output that almost mechanically acts as a loudspeaker for research findings that will be generated in more traditional ways¡±, Jones wanted to find ¡°a different and more human way to communicate climate change that would resonate more deeply with an apparently indifferent general public¡±. She is delighted to have ¡°received very personal messages from people ¨C almost all women ¨C who have been touched by 바카라사이트 film¡±.

Her main concern, Jones continues, was nei바카라사이트r to reach 바카라사이트 largest possible audience nor to produce an activist film, which inevitably brings ¡°a pressure to be ¡®on message¡¯, focused on real or imagined enemies¡±. Instead, her ¡°driving ambition was creative and political: how do we find our own voice, from peripheral places and positions, to express our innermost, au바카라사이트ntic feelings about climate change?¡±

She admits that 바카라사이트 impact of research films ¡°may not always be immediately obvious¡±, but she thinks 바카라사이트y can ¡°streng바카라사이트n and forge new networks across 바카라사이트 world¡±.

¡°Just making a film provides a reason for people to get in touch and share ideas and expertise, which can be very productive in itself,¡± she says. ¡°I really do believe that a well-made film can shift 바카라사이트 debate just by reaching 바카라사이트 right specialist networks, as well as a general audience.¡±