From Dreary to Theory: A Workshop on Creative Theorizing

FROM DREARY TO THEORY: A WORKSHOP ON CREATIVE THEORIZING

Theory can be seen as scary, boring, or irrelevant. But theorizing can be a creative and incredibly powerful way to generate new questions and push your research practice in new directions. In this one-day workshop, the DCS team will introduce you to theorizing as a practice, share inspiration, and provide opportunities for you to theorize your own materials or topics with constructive feedback.

Instead of merely choosing “correct” theories, the emphasis will be theorizing as a practice of playful experimentation. At a time when our various crises signal a crisis of the imagination (Ghosh 2017), theorizing becomes a key skill for humanities and other scholars wanting to break out of the box and conduct groundbreaking research.  

Facilitated by Prof Nic Carah, Dr Luke Munn, and Dr Giang Nguyen-Thu, this symposium will take place on 13 May 2025, 9:00am-5:00pm, at UQ Brisbane City (308 Queen St). The symposium is free and will be catered. 

The program will include:

• Instigation session: key ideas and strategies for theorizing
• Inspiration session: lightning talks from DCS researchers
• Application session: interactive theorization on your own research
• Presentation session: short talks from all participants and feedback from the group

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Thank you for your interest in this event!

 Before registering for this event, we ask that you consider your availability to:

• Attend the full duration of the workshop on 13 May from 9:00AM-5:00PM, as we would like to foster a supportive cohort across the day.
• Prepare and submit a short (1-2 page) written memo in advance of the event, outlining the core theoretical questions and challenges animating your work

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To help us with our planning, please register without delay. Please register by 10:00am, 6 May. You can then submit your memo separately via email (instructions below).

HOW TO PREPARE AND SUBMIT YOUR MEMO:

We invite you to submit a 1-2 page memo, by Tuesday 6 May 2025 via email to: digitalcultures@hass.edu.au.

Please respond to the following questions:

• What are the key questions or problematics driving your research project?
• What kind of theoretical resources are you using, or thinking of using, to respond to these questions/problematics?
• What kind of theoretical challenges have you encountered, or do you expect to encounter, in the course of your research?
• Is there anything additional you would like to raise with the group, beyond what is addressed in your previous answers?

Please note: your memos will be shared with the workshop facilitators and other participants in advance of the event. You will be invited to speak to your memo for 10-15 minutes during the workshop.