Research, The Arts and Emotion

Hi there, my friend,

Hope your week has gone well. Just think, one more to go and it's March Break. I know you will enjoy a well-deserved break from school and have fun doing some things with your children. I bet they are looking forward to it, also.

Well, what an interesting topic we are looking at this week. I would never have considered research to be related to the arts. What an intriguing idea and it certainly has piqued my interest.

As we know, and as the article states, knowledge assists us to better understand our world and research is done as a means of finding answers to any topic of interest one may have. One tends to think of the findings being presented in a "conventional-looking scholarship" which satisfied the academy but was not able "to capture and communicate the complexity of human experience in all its diversity". Researchers decided to develop a way to represent their findings to reach those beyond the academy, everyday people in order to make a difference. When you think about it, what good are the results of research if the findings are represented in such a manner that the average person in society cannot, or will not bother to, decipher them. As knowledge of what comprises human development grew, it became necessary to expand the strategies for conducting and representing research. Thus, arts-informed research evolved.

Arts-informed research has the ability to advance comprehension of the experiences of people, and the various art forms used to depict this provide an opportunity for better understanding of the ideas to a wider range of people. By making the findings of research more accessible to a greater number of people the more likely changes and improvements in our society will take place. I think, as Suzi Gablik states it is a way that, "...brings head and heart together". Since so much human experience involves emotions and conventional methods of representing these experiences were not sufficient, it only makes sense to have a research method that can incorporate emotion in some way.

I read with great interest the sections discussing Alzheimer's Disease and caregivers as both of my parents suffered with dementia. It was absolutely amazing to me to have data collected from the experiences of caregivers presented in a "45-minute spoke performance". This is ingenious! In what other way could these findings have ever been represented to be able to include the emotions connected with this topic?

Finally, in my opinion, arts-informed research provides a venue for those with an interest in researching, and sharing, a topic that is within their "heart, soul and mind". Without this research form it would not be possible to do this in such an accurate manner.

These sure are some very interesting ideas, don't you think? Had you ever heard of this type of research before? Being totally new to me, it has opened up my mind to a huge number of possibilities that I have never before imagined. I think, and hope, we will see a great shift in the presentation of research findings as this strategy catches on. It certainly will make them more interesting and understandable to many people.

Have a great day "digging out"!
"Talk" soon,
Catherine