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

----------------

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

----------------

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.

Contact the host of From Dreary to Theory: A Workshop on Creative Theorizing