Visual, Sensory and Multimodal Methods in East European Studies

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

Visual methods, used by anthropologists, visual sociologists and others, have long been present in the study of Eastern Europe (see e.g. Razsa 2015, Goldstein & Lorenz 2019). More recently we have been experiencing a certain 'sensory turn' where not only image but also sound, smell and other sensory qualities of our research field become our research data (see e.g. Śliwa and Riach 2012, Łojewska 2024). This in turn sparks interest in multimodal research and publishing which profit from innovations in today's data recording and (online) publishing. This roundtable brings together scholars who use multimodal methods and those who in their research focus on visual and sensory material from their research field. Before the discussion the participants will briefly present their current projects: "Semiotic and Visual Representations of Dissent in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Hungary Through an Analysis of Blank-Page Protests" (Storey-Nagy & Bovington); "Are there only two ethnic groups in Moscow: Slavs and Southerners? Research on vernacular categorization with elicitation methods used" (Varshaver); "Disrupting the Monument: The Palace of the Soviets, the Strastnoi Monastery, and Stalinist Urban Reconstruction, 1931-1941" (Jennings); "Researching with Sound and Vision in the Polish-German Border Region" (Łojewska).

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Olga Łojewska, Adam Mickiewicz U (Poland)

Roundtable Speakers

• Gardner Bovingdon, Indiana U Bloomington

• Henry Jennings, U of Sheffield (UK)

• Olga Łojewska, Adam Mickiewicz U (Poland)

• Jessica Ruth Storey-Nagy, Indiana U Bloomington