In conversation with... Mike Michael and Jen Ross - prospective & speculative methodologies
Speaker(s):
Bio: Jen Ross is a senior lecturer in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh. She is co-director of the Centre for Research in Digital Education, and the MSc in Education Futures in the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Her research interests include education and cultural heritage futures, online distance education, digital cultural heritage learning, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), digital cultures, and online reflective practices. Her recent book, Digital Futures for Learning (Routledge, 2023), explores speculative approaches to researching and teaching about the future.
Bio: Mike Michael is a sociologist of science and technology, and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Exeter, UK. His research interests have touched on the public understanding of science, the relation between everyday life and science and technology, and biotechnological and biomedical innovation and culture. Recently he has worked on lay metrology and speculative methodology. He is currently co-authoring a volume on the inter-relations between design and science and technology studies. Major publications include Actor-Network Theory: Trials, Trails and Translations (Sage, 2017) and The Research Event: Towards Prospective Methodologies in Sociology (Routledge, 2021).
Abstract:
Join us for a unique conversation between two researchers with longstanding interest in speculative and prospective methods in social science research. Together, they will be discussing their latest books: The Research Event: Towards Prospective Methodologies in Sociology (Michael 2022) and Digital Futures for Learning: Speculative Methods and Pedagogies (Ross 2023). Their conversation will focus on what Jen talks about in her book as as ‘glitches’ and Mike describes as ‘overspills’, and the importance of paying attention to and working with mess, excess and uncertainty in the research event. We will think together about what this work entails methodologically, and how to (partially!) account for it in design, engagement and analysis stages of research. Come and think creatively about the generative, troubling place of glitches and overspills in your own work.