Projects

Misperforming World Politics

This course develops a ‘performance’ lens of contemporary issues of world politics at the intersections of critical theory, performance studies, art-based research and critical pedagogy. It looks at how familiar notions are performed and acted out in everyday practices and situations – such as statehood, sovereignty, identity, gender, citizenship or labour under global capitalism – and the ways in which roles, scripts and modes of staging generate structures of recognizability and corresponding subject positions. Expectations, rituals and routines, however, simultaneously give rise to misperformances that carry the potential for encounters that are incidental, spontaneous and yet-unknown.

The course brings together philosophy, case studies, artistic interventions and offers practical exercises in reflecting on and transforming our normalized and habitual practices of sense-making.

SEEK Network

SEEK is a research network based in the Netherlands. Our mission is to promote a culture of research collaboration and initiatives with diverse populations, particularly the refugees and migrants, to advocate for the inclusion of their voices in public perception and public policy.

We endeavour reimagining the current migration research, narrative and scholarship by bringing migrant “knowledges” and “perspectives” into the nexus of the current migration policy discourses to provide evidence-based public policy. Our research is based on principles of co-creation of knowledge with the people and communities.

SEEK is piloting a project “Portraits of Power” with the support of Mamma Cash. This four week (online) storytelling retreat will meaningfully engage with young migrant/refugee women through workshops and mentorship sessions, in which they will be encouraged to reflect on ideas which are otherwise considered taboo in their communities (e.g. gender-based violence, body policing).  Each group would build on specific themes, with a focus on narratives and creative art to encourage critical reflections and self-expressions.

The outputs, “Power Portraits”, would be auto-ethnographic accounts in the form of written works (stories, poems, non-fictional writing) and art forms, which will be compiled and made available as a digital collective on the SEEK website and disseminated with relevant networks to inform activist campaigns and policy briefs/ initiatives that affect women. We aim to seek support for following questions:

• How to design the retreat/workshops/mentorship sessions for effective engagement of migrants/refugee women. Which topics should be included for discussions, how the study/writing circles can be organized?
• How to design/publicize/promote the calls for applications to have more participants.
• What else can be considered, improved, built upon? (e.g. any means for impact evaluation of the project)

Educational Development in Practice (Practicum)

This blended course allows course participants to learn about the practice of educational development experientially, through engagement in applied research, programming, or advocacy roles in communities where OSUN institutions operate.

Course participants will work in campus-based teams of 3-5, contributing to the work of local government, NGO, development organizations, or private sector organizations over a focused period of 12 weeks (January-March). 

The primary purpose of this research is to develop a rigorous but practical impact assessment methodology that will enable AIHU staff to assess the impact of their workshops and their free methodological guides. The objectives of the project are to:

• Familiarize the client with existing methodologies that were proven to be effective in assessing the impact of similar educational interventions;
• Select a methodological approach that is likely to be effective and feasible for a client to undertake for the purpose of assessing the impact of its workshops and free methodological guides;
• Develop research instruments that can be used by the client to assess the impact of its workshops and free methodological guides;
• Pilot the research instruments developed and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, with a view to fine-tuning them

When it comes to local youth and their parents, we would like to find out:

• What is their idea of good education and education equality?
• What knowledge do they have about the Austrian school systems and the possibilities after mandatory education?
• What are the main challenges with regards to further education for young people?
• What kind of support would they want in order to attain further education?

Our goal is to establish Favoriten as an "Showcase-District" where the collective impact of everyone who works towards educational equality becomes visible.