Queer Representations in Motion: Documenting Identity through Animation

Mindful makers: Question prompts to help guide young peoples' critical technical practices in maker spaces in libraries, museums, and community-based youth organizations

ABSTRACTDiffraction is a well‐known term in the context of quantum mechanics, where the nature of light and its behaviors can be observed. Diffraction as a critical research methodology was coined by Haraway (1990, 2013, 2018) and Barad (2003, 2007, 2010) in the context of critical science and technology studies (STS). Unlike reflection, where discourse and abstraction are leveraged to fill in the gaps between knowledge and representation, diffraction acknowledges the ontological inseparability of the material and discursive. While diffractive methodologies are growing in popularity in other critical research areas, there is a small but growing number of scholars levering diffractive approaches in library and information research. In this poster, I describe diffraction as a critical research methodology and situate my efforts to build on the existing literature and develop a diffractive approach for critical LIDS research.

Transgender is a marginalised category to which reality TV has given visibility, yet it is usually overlooked in observations regarding the minority groups that have gained mainstream representation through these programmes. Popular Australian reality TV shows have provided a unique space for the constructive representation of certain queer subjectivities. The Australian reality TV contestants in question present gendering that embraces ambiguity, that is, they demonstrate the deliberate disruption and blurring of gender/sex category divisions. This article examines the ways in which Australian reality TV’s representations of transgender contestants remain robustly queer while also being negotiated and made palatable for ‘family’ television audiences. It asserts the reality TV shows that feature transgender performance orchestrate a balance between queer expression and its containment. This article also takes as a case study a particularly successful Australian transgender reality TV contestant, Courtney Act. It argues Act’s representation of queerness was ‘managed’ within the normative framework of mainstream television yet she is still significantly troubled by gender binaries during her time on Australian screen. In 2014, she appeared as a contestant on the United States’ queer-themed reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race and again proved to be a reality TV success. This transnational intersection of transgender performance signalled the productive possibilities of international cross-pollination in regard to affirmative reality TV representations of marginalised subjectivities. At the same time, however, it also revealed the localised nature of reality TV, even in those shows with an international queer appeal.

Critical information systems (IS) research, it is argued, does not have a distinct methodological identity. While some research methods are closely related to the positivist research paradigm (experiments, surveys, and structural equation modelling) and others to the interpretivist paradigm (field study, ethnography, and action research), the critical paradigm is not identified with specific ‘critical methods’ and typically relies on the appropriation of interpretivist methods (such as critical ethnography). The criticism of the critical research paradigm in IS has often focused on the lack of distinctly critical research methods and even the neglect of methodological issues (Klein; McGrath). This paper questions the notion of and the arguments behind the quest for ‘critical research methods’ defined in contrast to positivist and interpretivist methods. Instead, the paper argues that it is a critical research methodology – understood as an overall strategy of conceptualizing and conducting an inquiry, engaging with studied phenomena, and constructing and justifying socially relevant knowledge, which distinguishes critical from other research paradigms. Building on a Kleinian argument regarding the need for common principles across diverse critical IS inquiries (Klein; Myers & Klein) this paper proposes a framework that describes key dimensions of a critical research methodology that distinguish critical from other research paradigms and provide methodological guidance in the doing of critical research.

Este artigocoloca em pauta a legitimação do reconhecimento da população LGBTQI+ a respeito de uma categoria de gênero: o sujeito Queer. Através da organização de duas oficinas realizadas na Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG) e na Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), equipadas com nosso tripé metodológico -isto é, informação, construção e sensibilização -, fomos capazes de dialogar com aproximadamente 80 estudantes sobre Arqueologia e a Teoria Queer. Intitulado como Arqueologia e Teoria Queer: por uma Arqueologia Transviada, a oficina possibilitou elucidar os questionamentos levantados por Gontijo & Schaan (2017) através da ratificação do indivíduo transviado que fica subalterno mediante a vigente binariedade de gênero, delimitada pelos valores da cultura ocidental.

The burgeoning integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly its generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) applications, is fundamentally transforming Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and, consequently, the professional landscape of map and geospatial libraries. While these technologies offer unprecedented capabilities for data analysis, visualization, and content creation, their widespread adoption introduces a complex array of social and ethical challenges that necessitate critical examination by library professionals. Aligning with the broader feminist critique of positivist science practices that typically dominate GIS methodologies and using feminist theory, this paper critically reflects on the social and ethical implications of GeoAI and GenAI within map and geospatial library contexts. It draws upon a review of existing literature in feminist geography, critical cartography, and AI ethics, alongside insights derived from professional practice. A central tenet of this reflection is the recognition that, much like the historically contested fields of cartography and geography, GeoAI and GenAI is a feminist issue. This critical lens reveals that both cartography/geography and GeoAI/GenAI present similar opportunities for embedding and perpetuating societal biases and systems of domination within spatial representations. This can be seen through the ways in which GeoAI/GenAI perpetuate hierarchies, restricting access and agency based on race, class, gender, and sexuality. Through critical reflection, this paper aims to equip map and geospatial library professionals with the theoretical and pedagogical exploration of feminist geospatial ethics. It seeks to foster a deeper understanding of librarians’ social and ethical obligations in an increasingly AI-driven geospatial information environment, thereby empowering them to navigate these complexities responsibly and ensure the realization of GeoAI and GenAI’s relationship with systems of oppression.

As businesses and society navigate the potentials of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), the integration of these technologies introduces unique challenges and opportunities for human resources, requiring a re‐evaluation of human resource management (HRM) frameworks. The existing frameworks may often fall short of capturing the novel attributes, complexities and impacts of GAI on workforce dynamics and organizational operations. This paper proposes a strategic HRM framework, underpinned by the theory of institutional entrepreneurship for sustainable organizations, for integrating GAI within HRM practices to boost operational efficiency, foster innovation and secure a competitive advantage through responsible practices and workforce development. Central to this framework is the alignment with existing business objectives, seizing opportunities, strategic resource assessment and orchestration, re‐institutionalization, realignment and embracing a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. This approach provides a detailed roadmap for organizations to navigate successfully the complexities of a GAI‐enhanced business environment. Additionally, this paper significantly contributes to the theoretical discourse by bridging the gap between HRM and GAI adoption, the proposed framework accounting for GAI–human capital symbiosis, setting the stage for future research to empirically test its applicability, explore its implications on HRM practices and understand its broader economic and societal consequences through diverse multi‐disciplinary and multi‐level research methodologies.

Cartooning and graphic facilitation (the latter of which includes developing visuals in real time with groups) offer increasingly popular yet highly subjective approaches to public engagement, organizational development, communication, research, and research dissemination. Values-based cartooning can provide an ethical framework for those undertaking and commissioning these kinds of practices, and it has been employed by the author as a method for accessing and representing diverse perspectives and experiences for more than two decades. This article is situated within the author’s experience as a practitioner undertaking a range of commissions and partnerships relating to education in the United Kingdom. What follows is a critical examination of three contexts where values-based cartooning has been used to represent women’s leadership within education: within research into women’s experiences of working and studying in a higher education institution, within grassroots movements led by teachers and school leaders, and within broader campaigns that have educational value. This involves negotiation of complex social issues while developing visuals, including how to treat gender, race, and intersectional identities within word/image combinations. Questions are raised about the purposes of visual practice, the roles and responsibilities of practitioners, and the conditions of production, audience, and social media. What are the benefits, limitations, and risks of values-based cartooning in relation to the visual representation of women’s leadership in education? What is the value of portraying the kinds of leadership that exist at different levels, including outside of formal, professional roles and beyond classroom practice and systems leadership? And finally, how should visual practitioners respond to conflicting values, risk, failure, and nuance in relation to women’s leadership, where there is strong desire and need for positive, strengths-based depictions? The author considers her positionality in relation to the type of work undertaken and asks whether this kind of visual practice may in fact represent a particular form of leadership that warrants further inquiry. This article will be of interest to educators, researchers, facilitators, artists, cartoonists, campaigners, graphic and visual facilitators, practice-based researchers, and those who commission and evaluate visual methods.

Temporal Poetics as a Critical Technical Practice

1960’lı yılların özgür ruhu ve bu yıllarda yaşanan muhalif ortam beraberinde heteroseksüellikten farklı düşüncelerin, yönelimlerin (eşcinsellik gibi) ortaya çıkmasına ve zaman içinde de queer kavramının gündeme gelmesine zemin hazırlamıştır. Tüm dünyada tartışılmaya ve etkili olmaya başlayan bu farklı yönelimler hiç şüphesiz düşler diyarı sinemanın da zaman içinde ilgisini çekmiş, cinsel yönelimin normatif algılarının dışına taşan oluş halleri ve queer gibi kavramlar beyaz perdeye yansıtılmaya başlanmıştır. Gus Van Sant, Ang Lee, Jonathan Demme, Xavier Dolan, Mehmet Binay, Kutluğ Ataman vb. yerli/yabancı yönetmeler gibi Ferzan Özpetek de filmlerinde eşcinsellik ve queer unsurları işleyen yönetmenlerden biridir. Bu bağlamda makalenin amacı queeri, queerin gelişim sürecini ve queer kuramı açıklayarak queer öznelliklerin Ferzan Özpetek sinemasında, özellikle Hamam ve Cahil Periler filmlerinde nasıl temsil edildiğini ortaya koymaktır.

ABSTRACTConcerned about the phenomena of early school leaving in our region, we are two teachers who initiated and developed a new school from the ‘ground up’ to re-engage young people disenfranchised with schooling back into formalised learning. Using critical action research methodology over a three and a half year developmental period, this endeavour involved us in exercising particular dimensions of leadership to engineer a sustainable second chance school. Twelve years after its development, the school continues with enrolments of over 100 senior secondary students in recent years. The schooling justice work we pursued during the developmental period drew us into ‘emancipatory’ leadership work that called us to be; (1) teacher activists embracing social entrepreneurial strategies imbued with (2) relational sensibilities, and (3) architects of socially just school design informed by (4) critical praxis within a university led professional learning community. The ‘second chance school’ has re-engaged over 1000 students back into formalised learning since its inception and has offered pathways into post-school tertiary study, apprenticeships and training for the majority of these students.

Feminist research methodologies seek to conduct research that aligns with the political and social project of feminism. These research methodologies specifically focus on women's voice, experiences, and contributions, center a feminist perspective and adopt premises and assumptions of a feminist worldview. Some of these premises—raising critical consciousness, encouraging social change, and emphasizing a diversity of human experience related to gender at the intersection of race, sexuality, and other categories of identity—align with the premises and assumptions of queer theory. Since both feminist and queer research methods aim to centralize the experiences of people marginalized under racist, sexist, heterosexist, patriarchal, and imperialist conditions, both methods seek decentralization of and liberation from such experiences in research methodologies. While this paper will briefly discuss these important points of alignment between feminist methods and queer theory, the main purpose will be to distinguish these two broad approaches and to outline what queer theory additionally brings to the table.

Queer theory and intersectionality theory have emerged as prominent paradigms guiding decisions for research design and methodology in educational research. Despite their increasing prominence and implementation in educational research, applying these paradigms can result in confusion and conflation without understanding their unique distinctions. Additionally, queer theory and intersectionality theory each carry their own legacies, predecessors, and philosophical underpinnings. Queer theory primarily focuses on disrupting the restrictions associated with binaries and identity categories, whereas intersectionality theory involves an examination of social identities (e.g., race, sexuality, gender identity) and intersections to understand power relations and inequities. With an overarching introduction to queer theory and intersectionality theory as two distinct paradigms, this chapter involves the following goals: (a) explain key aspects of queer theory and intersectionality theory as distinct paradigms; (b) identify differences between queer theory and intersectionality theory; and (c) provide recommendations for understanding paradigmatic differences in research.

Recently, ChatGPT, a cutting-edge large language model, has emerged as a powerful Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tool with the capacity to influence education. ChatGPT provides ample opportunities for learners, researchers, educators, and practitioners to achieve the intended learning outcomes in various disciplines. This special issue examines the diverse applications and implications of GenAI tools including ChatGPT in education, highlighting their potential to enhance teaching and learning across various contexts. Key findings from seventeen studies collected in this special issue demonstrate that GenAI tools can significantly improve educational outcomes by providing personalized feedback, facilitating language learning, and supporting both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. The findings emphasize GenAI’s capacity to increase learner engagement and motivation, yet also underscore the need for robust ethical guidelines and human oversight due to potential issues with privacy, bias, and accuracy. This special issue also highlights the challenges GenAI faces, such as limitations in contextual understanding and its impact on critical thinking skills. In addition, it provides a foundational framework for exploring effective and responsible GenAI integration, aiming to enrich educational experiences. We conclude that future research should focus on the longitudinal effects of GenAI tools on learning outcomes, developing ethical frameworks for their use, and ensuring their adaptability to diverse learner populations to promote inclusive educational practices.

This article draws on critical literacy frameworks and action research methodology to consider how two scholar-practitioners – one working in higher education and one in a middle school setting - utilize their embodied knowledge as members of marginalized communities to increase institutional access and create opportunities for critical engagement and humanization among their students. We situate our research within the literature of critical literacy and we draw on discourses of bodies and embodiment in education to detail the ways in which critical literacy theory and practice might be utilized to unearth missing narratives, promote humanizing educational approaches, and foster institutional change. We end by discussing key implications and offering suggestions for future research and practice in the field.