Can Art + Design uncover creative solutions to environmental problems that may not arise through scientific methods and practices alone?
Centuries ago, Renaissance-era artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) united the arts and sciences when he sketched models for water flow dynamics, human anatomy, and early flight machines. Despite da Vinci’s profound impact on science and culture, modern academics have struggled to adapt his practices.
Joshua Hale, Assistant Professor and Chair of Art + Design at Trinity Western University, recently received a $55,523 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to pursue his project, “Integrated Creative Practices (ICP) for Research Innovation and Mobilization”. The project’s co-applicants are Dr. Kelly Arbeau, TWU Assistant Professor of Psychology, and Dr. David Clements, TWU Professor of Biology.
Hale and his research team seek to promote greater scientific understanding in society by addressing complex scientific problems through multiple “ways of knowing”, which includes perspectives and approaches from the arts. According to Hale, an approach like da Vinci’s “requires deep integration of art and design practices.”
“Over the last few decades, the term arts-based research (ABR) has been used to describe a thriving field of creative research with vast potential for knowledge creation and mobilization,” Hale says, “but due to the commonly-perceived division between art and design, the term ‘arts-based’ may not seem to include designers, who work at the intersection of multiple disciplines.”
Collaboration across disciplines
In this project, art and design students will join students in the natural sciences, psychology, and media and communication, to form an interdisciplinary research team. They will use art, design, and psychology to advance a scientific research project on the ecology and management of invasive knotweed in BC.
“The project's ultimate goal is to explore the possibility of infusing the benefits of creative practices into any field of research, while furthering the knowledge mobilization goals of the scientific study of knotweed,” says Hale.
Crossing the divide between arts and sciences
The role of design disciplines, especially graphic design, can often be minimized to a surface-level aesthetic service, Hale observes. However, design methods go far deeper than surface aesthetics and share significant overlap with many research frameworks and knowledge mobilization models.
Recent studies have suggested that non-design fields can benefit from adopting design methodology.
Hale seeks to infuse the benefits of art and design practices into scientific research, through a new method, called Integrated Creative Practices (ICP).
Creating a multi-disciplinary team
For Hale’s project, twelve students from four different disciplines will work together to explore the same ecological issue from a range of angles and approaches.
Students from art and design will join students from media and communications to lead the creative ideation and production.
Students from the natural sciences will lead others to understand the ongoing study of invasive knotweed management.
Students from psychology will conduct interviews and collect a range of other data. Along with Dr. Arbeau, a research psychologist, they will analyze that data to better understand the experiences and perspectives of students, the wider community, and key stakeholders.
The wider community will be given opportunities to help inform the direction of the research.
Increasing the public’s understanding, driving social change
One of the goals of this cross-disciplinary collaboration is to increase the public’s knowledge about scientific research. "Laypeople are too rarely given access to clear guidelines for interpreting and understanding the results of scientific research, which can diminish the societal impact of science and ultimately the public funding devoted to research." says Dr. Arbeau.
"Topics such as the spread of invasive plants and climate change are of urgent importance to society, and the creative disciplines can provide the tools and methods necessary to help 'close the loop' between this crucial knowledge and its social action," she says.
Dr. Clements adds, "Understanding and managing invasive knotweed is very complicated – so much so it could be referred to as a 'wicked problem' – 'a veritable thicket of difficulties.'"
Through producing a variety of creative communications, such as online campaigns, design projects, videos, art exhibitions, or training workshops, the research team will share scientific knowledge with the broader society and continually measure the effectiveness of their outreach efforts.
Training the leaders of tomorrow
Hale believes that the collaborative team-based approach of ICP will have the additional educational benefit of training students with transferable skills in interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge mobilization, and support students' potential to become future leaders in their fields.
"Cross-disciplinary perspectives that combine multiple ways of knowing can help students and researchers more holistically explore problems and think creatively about solutions," says Hale.
This interdisciplinary approach that Hale and his research team are pusuing is designed to uncover creative solutions to the knotweed problem that may not arise through scientific methods and practices alone.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to find and fulfill their purpose in life. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has five campuses: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, Ottawa, and Bellingham, WA. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vibrant faith community devoted to supporting vibrant leaders seeking to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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