Introductory description

Who are you going to engage? How would you engage people? Where would you engage them?
This module will develop students' engagement skills for participatory practice across disciplines, focusing on presentation skills, project management and participatory research methods. There will be three units, featuring practical workshops, guest tutors from across the university and external guests from the fields of culture, media and sport. This unique and innovative module will help your shape your ideas to engage audiences across, beyond and outside of the university, featuring contributions from Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick Institute of Engagement and Warwick Sport. You will present your original ideas to new audiences and learn how to devise your own assessment in a supportive, creative and reflective learning environment.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Introduction to engagement as a participatory practice (first session). This workshop will combine practical group activities with theorised content on the relationships between institutions, publics and communities, by considering engagement and participation as a 'social turn' in higher education research and practice globally.

Unit A: '​Where to engage?' Public and community contexts. This introductory Unit will challenge students to think about their learning and research as a social and participatory practice, with guidance from academic colleagues.

Introduction to public engagement practice (Guest speaker: Academic Director from WIE)
Introduction to community engagement (Guest speaker: Community Engagement Practitioner)
Introduction to local/global engagement (Academic-practitioner from SELCS working with local people)

Unit B: 'How to engage?' Engagement across the sectors. This Unit applies the engagement/participation principles from the first Unit to a series of practical contexts, from online communities to cultural strategies in the region.

Digital and online engagement (self-directed; tasks assigned on Moodle by Module Convenor)
Arts and cultural engagement (Guest speaker/s from Warwick Arts Centre and/or external practitioner)
Sport, fitness and health engagement (Guest speaker: Director of Warwick Sport; possible field-trip off campus)

Unit C: 'Who to engage?' Your engagement practice. This Unit will transfer the learning from the first two Units to the student vision for assessed practice, using the IATL module of the SDA and applying it to their engagement practice.

STEM engagement (Guest Speaker: Director of Outreach and Widening Participation, WMG)
Engagement skills (Visiting practitioner; this workshop will focus on presentation and participation skills)
Student presentations and SDA proposals (this session will include formative assessments).

Students will submit their SDA proposals by the end of term and their final assessed work in Summer Term.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Critically analyse the complex social and organisational hierarchies that lead to engagement strategies and objectives
• Critically evaluate the many ways in which publics, communities and individual might benefit from socially-engaged research
• Demonstrate theoretical knowledge and understanding of different engagement concepts and positions
• Discuss multiple disciplinary positions through interdisciplinary learning and transdisciplinary practice
• Develop targeted communication and presentation skills to engage people in the field and online
• Evaluate research questions and problems to make sound judgments and produce recommendations

Indicative reading list

Arnstein, S.R. (2019) ‘A Ladder of Citizen Participation’, Journal of the American Planning
Association, 85(1), pp. 24–34. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2018.1559388.
Ball, Sarah (2021) Arts-based approaches to public engagement with research: Lessons
from a rapid review. RAND Corporation. Available at: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA194-1.html.
Bishop, C. (2012) 'Artificial hells: participatory art and the politics of spectatorship'. Available at: https://0-www-fulcrum-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/concern/monographs/rx913q57p.
Boardman, F.K. et al. (2023) ‘I:DNA – Evaluating the impact of public engagement with a
multimedia art installation on genetic screening’, Research for All, 7(1). Available at:
https://doi.org/10.14324/RFA.07.1.15.
Core Values, Ethics, Spectrum – The 3 Pillars of Public Participation - International
Association for Public Participation (no date). Available at: https://www.iap2.org/page/pillars.
Falco, E. (2016) ‘Digital Community Planning’, International Journal of E-Planning Research,
5(2), pp. 1–22. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEPR.2016040101.
Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle - University of Edinburgh Toolkit (2024). Available at: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle.
Harpin, A. and Nicholson, H. (2017) 'Performance and participation: practices, audiences, politics'. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/warw/detail.action?docID=6939391.
Jones, K. (ed.) (2022) Doing performative social science: creativity in doing research and
reaching communities. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Available at: https://0-www-taylorfrancis-com.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/books/9781003187745.
Kanagavel, A., Raghavan, R. and Veríssimo, D. (2014) ‘Beyond the "General Public”:
Implications of Audience Characteristics for Promoting Species Conservation in the
Western Ghats Hotspot, India’, AMBIO, 43(2), pp. 138–148. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0434-2.
Karner, A. et al. (2019) ‘The View From the Top of Arnstein’s Ladder’, Journal of the
American Planning Association, 85(3), pp. 236–254. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2019.1617767.
Khlusova, A. (2021) 'Public Engagement In The Digital Environment: Opportunities And Challenges For Arts And
Humanities Researchers'. Available at: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/public-engagement-in-the-digital-environment-opportunities-and-challenges-for-arts-and-humanities-researchers.
Lambert, C. (2018) 'The Live Art of Sociology'. Available at: https://0-doi-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/10.4324/9781315679341.
Smith, K.E. et al. (2020) The impact agenda: controversies, consequences and challenges.
Bristol: Policy Press. Available at: https://0-www-cambridge-org.pugwash.lib.warwick.ac.uk/core/product/identifier/9781447339861/type/BOOK.
Stilgoe, J., Lock, S.J. and Wilsdon, J. (2014) ‘Why should we promote public engagement
with science?’, Public Understanding of Science, 23(1), pp. 4–15. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662513518154.
Watermeyer, R. and Lewis, J. (2018) ‘Institutionalizing public engagement through research
in UK universities: perceptions, predictions and paradoxes concerning the state of the art’,
Studies in Higher Education, 43(9), pp. 1612–1624. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2016.1272566.
Yang, Z. (2022) ‘More Than Just an Audience: The New Approach to Public Engagement
with Climate Change Communication on Chinese Knowledge-Sharing Networks’,
Environmental Communication, 16(6), pp. 757–772. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2107552.

Research element

Students will summarise their multidisciplinary learning into a global approach to engagement practices (as/through interdisciplinary synthesis), developing their own research in a holistic way that crosses disciplinary boundaries (by identifying transdisciplinary problems). They will do this through undertaking their own research (and practice), by adapting the methods presented throughout the module, to inform their connection with a specific community. For example, students will understand how research cultures across STEM, Social Sciences and the Arts can be enhanced through fieldwork and participatory research and they will learn to critically communicate this through their SDA.

Interdisciplinary

During the course of the module students will learn to recognise the importance of employing a truly interdisciplinary approach for the global understanding of engagement as a social practice and explore possible challenges for engaging different communities. They will also learn to appreciate the value of adopting interdisciplinary approaches and transdisciplinary methods for understanding different engagement strategies, participatory activities and online communication.

International

Students will have an opportunity to engage with the UoW's new International Strategy and explore engagement with international digital communities via the local/global sessions within the module. Students will also have the opportunity to select an international case-study as their Student Devised Assessment to engage global audiences.

Subject specific skills

Appreciate the value of adopting interdisciplinary approaches and transdisciplinary methods to understand global topics within/across engagement sectors. Reflect on the possibility to implement a more holistic approach to their studies in their home disciplines, by developing new areas of research and practice focused on participation.
Attempt to become integrative system-thinkers, devising and sythesising interdisciplinary connections between disciplines. Reflect on the value of the using of different methodologies (i.e. fieldwork and participatory research) for tackling issues related to social, political and enviromental contexts. Develop presentation, communication and collaborative skills through the module to the benefit their future professional lives.

Transferable skills

Engagement and presentation skills
Project management
Online engagement
Co-production and collaboration
Participatory research methods
Identification of transdisciplinary issues.