Videographic Criticism as a Research Methodology and Assessment Tool

The dramatic evolution of media technology over the past two decades affords endless possibilities for presenting and disseminating not only scholarship whose object is media itself (motion pictures, television, and other electronic audiovisual forms) but humanities and sciences research findings more generally. The challenges we face are not only technological, but also pedagogical and rhetorical. However, most scholars are not trained to conceptually engage with moving-image media as a mode of scholarly rhetoric.
This panel will explore videographic criticism as a research methodology and assessment tool. Located at the intersection of art, theory, and research, videographic criticism combines creative and academic research practices and supports the development of knowledge and innovation through artistic expression, scholarly investigation, and experimentation. Panelists will discuss their own practice and suggest ways in which videographic criticism can be integrated as an alternative assessment method to accompany or replace the traditional essay.  

SPEAKERS
Catherine Grant is Honorary Professor at Aarhus University (Denmark) and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Reading. Formerly a Professor of Digital Media and Screen Studies at Birkbeck, Grant is a founding co-editor of the award-winning, peer-reviewed journal [in]Transition: Journal of Videographic Film & Moving Studies. 
Kevin B. Lee is the Locarno Film Festival Professor for the Future of Cinema and the Audiovisual Arts at Università della Svizzera Italiana. A filmmaker, media artist, and critic, he has produced over 360 video essays exploring film and media. 
Lara Callaghan is a video essayist and writer, whose work has been featured in Sight and Sound’s Best Video Essays of 2022 and 2023. She was recognised as one of Sight and Sound’s Emerging Voices in 2023.

Organised by Temenuga Trifonova (UCL Arts and Sciences) and supported by a grant from UCL’s Centre for Humanities Education and ARIEL: Centre for Creative Practice Research.