Techno-Concepts for the Cultural Field: n-Dimensional Space and Its Conceptual Constellation

Abstract This paper advocates an epistemological turn in the field of digital art history and cultural heritage studies. This epistemological turn is understood as the elaboration of a new (or renewed) epistemic apparatus that allows us to understand and interpret cultural phenomena from the perspective of a different order of thought. This epistemological labor is conceived of as an «epistemological technical practice», which means integrating epistemological reflection and production into technical making and design. Within this framework of discussion, this paper introduces the idea of a techno-concept, which is defined as a co-production between the machine rationale and the human thought/imagination. As particular cases, this paper argues that the mathematical concepts of n-dimensional, vector and latent spaces constitute examples of techno-concepts that can be reappropriated and reworked for cultural analysis and interpretation. This paper offers a preliminary inquiry, in which certain epistemological propositions are exposed as open gates for further discussions.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spanish Government), grant number PID2021-125037NB-I00, and by the Junta de Andalucía, grant numbers PY20_00508, UMA20-FEDERJA-12

Integrating Authentic Digital Resources in Support of Deep, Meaningful Learning

"Integrating Authentic Digital Resources in Support of Deep, Meaningful Learning," a white paper prepared for the Smithsonian by Interactive Educational Systems Design Inc., describes instructional approaches that apply to successful teaching with the Smithsonian Learning Lab.After defining its use of terms such as deeper learning and authentic resources the authors review the research basis of three broad approaches that support integrating digital resources into the classroom:Project-based learningGuided exploration of concepts and principlesGuided development of academic skillsThese approaches find practical application in the last section of the paper, which includes seven case studies. Examples range from first-grade science, to middle-school English (including ELL strategy) to a high-school American government class. In each example, students study and analyze digital resources, going on to apply their knowledge and deepen their understanding of a range of topics and problems

Designing Sugaropolis:digital games as a medium for conveying transnational narratives

In this paper, the authors present a case study of ‘Sugaropolis’: a two-year practice-based project that involved interdisciplinary co-design and stakeholder evaluation of two digital game prototypes. Drawing on the diverse expertise of the research team (game design and development, human geography, and transnational narratives), the paper aims to contribute to debates about the use of digital games as a medium for representing the past. With an emphasis on design-as-research, we consider how digital games can be (co-)designed to communicate complex histories and geographies in which people, objects, and resources are connected through space and time

Crossing Selma\u27s Bridge: Integrating Visual Discovery Strategy and Young Adult Literature to Promote Dialogue and Understanding

Urban communities, separated by race and class, experience a disproportionate number of gun deaths, police shootings, crime, violent and nonviolent protests, as well as disparities in housing, education, and employment. These discussions are visual and textual, appearing in both traditional and social media outlets. How do adolescents read and make sense of these images? We discuss integrating a Social Studies practice, Visual Discovery Strategy, with Young Adult Literature to provide students with the skills to both critique images from the events in their lives and produce responses through both traditional and digital methods

The Challenge of Integrating Faith-Learning-Living in Teacher Education

Teacher educators from member institutions of the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities are currently challenged in an unprecedented way. The challenge is to satisfy increasingly rigorous state and national teacher education standards and to fulfill the commonly held mission of Coalition institutions to integrate faith-learning-living. The research presented in this article traces the long history of integration and presents various theoretical integration models commonly supported by educators at Christian colleges and universities. This article suggests meeting the challenge in part through an original six component integration model with potential value for Christian educators representing various academic disciplines

Accented Body and Beyond: a Model for Practice-Led Research with Multiple Theory/Practice Outcomes

Dance has always been a collaborative or interdisciplinary practice normally associated with music or sound and visual arts/design. Recent developments with technology have introduced additional layers of interdisciplinary work to include live and virtual forms in the expansion of what Fraleigh (1999:11) terms ‘the dancer oriented in time/space, somatically alive to the experience of moving’. This already multi-sensory experience and knowledge of the dancer is now layered with other kinds of space/time and kinetic awarenesses, both present and distant, through telematic presence, generative systems and/or sensors. In this world of altered perceptions and ways of being, the field of dance research is further opened up to alternative processes of inquiry, both theoretically and in practice, and importantly in the spaces between the two

Getting In On the Act: How Arts Groups are Creating Opportunities for Active Participation

Arts participation is being redefined as people increasingly choose to engage with art in new, more active and expressive ways. This movement carries profound implications, and fresh opportunities, for the nonprofit arts sector.We are in the midst of a seismic shift in cultural production, moving from a "sit-back-and-be-told culture" to a "making-and-doing-culture." Active or participatory arts practices are emerging from the fringes of the Western cultural tradition to capture the collective imagination. Many forces have conspired to lead us to this point. The sustained economic downturn that began in 2008, rising ticket prices, the pervasiveness of social media, the roliferation of digital content and rising expectations for self-guided, on-demand, customized experiences have all contributed to a cultural environment primed for active arts practice. This shift calls for a new equilibrium in the arts ecology and a new generation of arts leaders ready to accept, integrate and celebrate all forms of cultural practice. This is, perhaps, the defining challenge of our time for artists, arts organizations and their supporters -- to embrace a more holistic view of the cultural ecology and identify new possibilities for Americans to engage with the arts.How can arts institutions adapt to this new environment?Is participatory practice contradictory to, or complementary to, a business model that relies on professional production and consumption?How can arts organizations enter this new territory without compromising their values r artistic ideals?This report aims to illuminate a growing body of practice around participatory engagement (with various illustrative case studies profiled at the end) and dispel some of the anxiety surrounding this sphere of activity

A Conceptual Model for Scholarly Research Activity

This paper presents a conceptual model for scholarly research activity, developed as part of the conceptual modelling work within the ???Preparing DARIAH??? European e-Infrastructures project. It is inspired by cultural-historical activity theory, and is expressed in terms of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, extending its notion of activity so as to also account, apart from historical practice, for scholarly research planning. It is intended as a framework for structuring and analyzing the results of empirical research on scholarly practice and information requirements, encompassing the full research lifecycle of information work and involving both primary evidence and scholarly objects; also, as a framework for producing clear and pertinent information requirements, and specifications of digital infrastructures, tools and services for scholarly research. We plan to use the model to tag interview transcripts from an empirical study on scholarly information work, and thus validate its soundness and fitness for purpose

Picturing another culture: Developing language proficiency, empathy, and visual literacy through art

Integrating art (paintings, sculptures, photography, and other types of images) into second language (L2) instruction, can have a positive effect on language acquisition and developing intercultural understanding. As the instructor provides visual scaffolding, learners at all proficiency levels have the opportunity to engage more deeply with L2 course materials. Not only can students learn to interpret imagery and create their own effective combinations of visuals and texts, they also develop some familiarity with seminal artwork from the target culture. This article outlines how spiraling art through a language curriculum can aid vocabulary retention, illustrate poetic language, and raise awareness of diversity and inclusion. As a result, learners investigate and interact with the products, practices, and perspectives of the L2 culture while simultaneously developing visual analysis skills - the latter essential in an age in which both authentic and digitally manipulated imagery dominate the media and social discourse.Accepted manuscrip

Artists’ books in HE teaching and learning

Learning resource, teaching collection, study collection, research collection or special collection: a historical collection of artists’ books like that at Chelsea College of Art & Design Library can (and probably, has) been used and referred to in all these different ways, at different times, responding to changes in education, audiences, users, etc. The focus on research within universities has led, over time, to a narrow view of such collections and their use primarily as research material, often to the detriment of their use in teaching and learning. With the rebalancing in recent years of the importance of these activities, seen again as central to the mission of Higher Education (HE), a re-evaluation of the use of special collections, and specifically artists’ books collections, to enhance and improve the quality of learning and teaching activities, is required