Lecture on New Visual Research Methodologies

Announcement from SSJ:

Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture presents

Dialogues on the Intersection of Art and Scholarship (II): an introduction to new research methodologies

DATE: 12 November 2009
TIME: 5:00pm to 7:30pm (Q & A with directors after screening)
LOCATION: Room 301, Building 10, Sophia University

The program will consist of short films and a discussion of the methodological issues surrounding the intersection of the following terms - auto-ethnography, anthropological films, a/r/tography, ethnodrama, ethnographic poetry, ethno-fiction and art-based research or action research.

Dr. Sik Ying Ho is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at University of Hong Kong. She is internationally recognized for her work on male and female sexualities and published widely in international journals. Aside from her work as a scholar she also has an active role in radio broadcasting, currently hosting a radio talk-show whereby callers explore their relationship and intimacy issues with her. She has also discovered a passion in documentary film making after her latest project on the lives of middle aged women in Hong Kong. It is through her work in these areas that Dr. Ho had begun to engage in artistic endeavours and other forms of art-based research on gender and sexuality issues. She hopes to show that meaning making and creation can just be as powerful through actions and images as through the written word.

Jolene Mok is a graduate in Creative Media and now works as a research assistant to Dr. Ho. Her interests span a number of mediums including photography, video and new media as a way of creating her own platform for expression. She is particularly interested in action/participatory research which emphasize interaction and collaboration among participants. She believes that this will not only lead to a development of a mutual educative relationship but also to allow her to continue her journey of learning and growth.

Sik Ying HO & Jolene MOK Production was co-founded in 2008. Their collaborations have led to the creation of a number of documentaries detailing the lives of Hong Kong women and their experiences of middle age. The two women whilst born in different eras share a belief that communication is a multi-channel process and through their experiences of making the documentaries have discovered how filmmaking has been an alternative yet powerful way of presenting these women’s stories as well as eliciting their own.

List of films to be shown during the session:

Virgin Mary, 10 mins (Dir. Sik Ying HO), 2009
“Virgin Mary” is the story of Constance, a single woman at the age of 48 who is still a virgin. This film explores her reasons for adopting a 4 year old boy as
well as reasons for staying single.

My daughter’s younger brother...but he’s not my son, 10 mins (Dir. Sik Ying HO), 2008
The story of TO-Bik Yu, whose divorced husband has asked her to care for his son that he had with his new younger mainland wife. The film focuses on how she handles her life after marriage and the relationships that arose as a result of its demise.

Love Competition, 10 mins (Dir. Sik Ying HO), 2009
A story of a Hong Kong woman who is fighting to win back her husband from the mistress that he met on the mainland. Her belief is that if she loves her husband more, then he will realize this and return to her. Thus she sets out on a mission to become the ideal wife to him in order to show that her rival is of no competition.

24, 30 mins (Dir. Jolene MOK), 2009
In this auto-ethnography Jolene MOK compares the path she has embarked upon in contrast to two friends who had taken distinctively different paths. Through this film it is hoped that her journey of discovery as a result of the Second Spring project can be shared with her classmates from the School of Creative Media as well as to a secret lover who had yet to hear her true feelings.

No prior registration necessary
Lecture and discussion in English
Films have subtitles in English

For more information see the ICC webpage:
http://www.fla.sophia.ac.jp/icc/index.htm