Arts & Sciences: AI | Watching & Filming| Disabled Careers | Civic Resistance | Economics of War

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Manuela Dal Borgo: The Economics of War in Ancient Greece

The book The Economics of War in Ancient Greece provides a novel approach to economic history. In recent decades the study of ancient economy and ancient warfare have both been transformed by ground-breaking new studies and methodological approaches. Offering a selection of cutting-edge research on the interlocked themes of economics and war, this edited volume explores how armed conflict affected markets and economic opportunities in ancient Greece. As editor and contributor to this volume I was able to push the boundaries of standard historical analysis by providing a simulation of the Peloponnesian war and how certain parameters, when tweaked, help the dynamic model to mimic the outcomes during the war and Athens final defeat. 

Dane Sutherland: Critical Perspectives on AI

Popular critical perspectives on AI may have largely moved on from fantasies of evil Skynet and vindictive Basilisk entities, to focus on more ethical concerns around digital rights, data ownership, human/machine creativity, plagiarism and ecological impact, but a more crucial path must be cut through the complexities that AI systems introduce as a cultural driver. These popular concerns, though legitimate, do not apprehend some of the broader and more insidious ways in which the mechanisms of current ‘neural media’ find expression in the creative practices, discourses, habits, and socio-cognitive development of cultures entangled among the dismal swamps of ‘platform capitalism’. 

Rebecca Birch: Watching and Filming at Preston New Road

On the Facebook page of Tina Rothery is an extraordinary archive; more than 450 videos recorded between March 2017 and October 2019 as livestreams from Preston New Road (PNR) anti-fracking protest. Most of the videos were shot on the same short stretch of the A583 between Blackpool and Preston, the action contained mostly at ‘the gates’, the bell mouth entrance to Cuadrilla’s fracking site.

The social media livestream is a significant feature of contemporary, place-embedded  environmental protests such as the anti-fracking campaign at Preston New Road. Whilst the role of livestream has been discussed as a form of journalistic output, focussed upon the issues at stake, and the ability of the livestream to engage distant supporters (eg. Gregory, Martini, Kavada) less attention has been paid to the physical, sensorial and affective experiences that are captured in these livestreamed video archives; ribbons and dancing contrasted with the noise and vibration of an HGV swinging out of the site, or the pressure of a soft body suddenly thrust against a metal fence. In this presentation I will share fragments from Tina’s archive and discuss my approach to editing them into a documentary that will provide a unique multi-perspectival representation of the experience of participation in a long-term, place-embedded protest.

Nicole Brown: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the career progress of disabled researchers

In this presentation, I report on a study that explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled researchers, focusing on the intersections between disability, race, gender, and caregiving responsibilities. I will begin with an overview of the study context before exploring the research process, which included an embodied approach to analysis. I will then present the three key themes that were identified: (1) the nuanced experiences of researchers during the pandemic, (2) opportunities for career progression arising from working remotely, and (3) significant barriers to advancement. I conclude the presentation with actionable recommendations for individuals, institutions, policymakers, and funders to foster equity and diversity in higher education and research to ensure a more inclusive and equitable future for the academy.

Ariel Caine: Models as Sites of Civic Resistance

How can models render visible the increasingly opaque sensory infrastructures in the city and the desert? Moreover, under conditions of surveillance and control how could models understood as both 3D simulatory environments and experimental frameworks serve as augmented sites of civic resistance? 

Arts and Sciences Staff Research Seminar, organized with the support of ARIEL, UCL’s Centre for Creative Practice Research and SCCI, UCL’s School for the Creative and Cultural Industries.