Through the Looking Glass: An Interdisciplinary and Multi-Stakeholder Strategy for Engaging with Sensitive Visual Material in Research

• In Event: Advances in Teaching Methods

Abstract

As the turn to interdisciplinary work becomes greater, it is important to consider that advances in research and development are more likely to happen at the intersections between multiple fields. Through the Looking Glass was an interactive, interdisciplinary, and multi-stakeholder workshop series co-hosted by the National Centre for Research Methods and VOX-Pol (an academic research network on online extremism and terrorism). Five events brought together PhD students, early career researchers, academics, practitioners, law enforcement, and industry professionals from across the world who discussed their best practices on how to more effectively engage ethically and methodologically with visual data. This paper will outline some of the key findings, with focus being placed on the ethical and methodological components that come from researching sensitive imagery, including access, anonymity, storage, researcher safety, mental health, and cybersecurity. The paper will also draw attention to the trauma that comes from researcher exposure to sensitive images, how researchers can report on and share content on sensitive topics in an ethical way, and the ways in which imagery is used by bad actors, especially to intimidate and traumatise marginalised communities.

Author

• Ashton Kingdon, University of Southampton