Inclusive Data Research Skills for Arts and Humanities/Introductory context: How we came to data epistemologies and decolonial approaches

One of the challenges we face as arts and humanities researchers who want to engage with data-oriented computational tools and methods is that these are usually embedded within scientific as well as colonial disciplinary priorities and biases which can be very hard to unpick and work with in critical research. In this session, we focus on asking: What kinds of thinking, epistemologies and colonial practices come with data tools, skills and methods? How can we engage decolonial approaches to data for arts and humanities? How might we move towards empowering forms of data research?

Sana Batool and Marika Grasso, two of the DAReS project co-designers, will introduce the way in which the DAReS project has come to the ‘data epistemologies and decolonial approaches’ theme, providing important context for the session.

From this basis, we will then focus on asking: What kinds of thinking, epistemologies and colonial practices come with data tools, skills and methods? How can we engage decolonial approaches to data for arts and humanities? How might we move towards empowering forms of data research? To meet these challenges we will work in small groups around these specific related problems:

• Deconstructing data methods and decolonising approaches: What are some ways we can approach and use data methods using a decolonial lens? Facilitators: Pushpi Bagchi and Annie Mackinnon

• Data agencies: How do we approach data research methods in ways that are empowering for marginalised and excluded groups? Facilitators: Christine Gibson and Zoetanya Sujon

• Data inequalities and power: What are power inequalities in data methods and skills? How can arts and humanities research challenge these inequalities? Facilitators Leah Junck and Maitrayee Basu

Each of these groups will engage these questions and work to identify what these challenges look like in research and their experience. The aim is to better understand these areas and co-create collaborative resources for sharing across Arts and Humanities and with under-represented groups.