Our Speaker: Despoina Sampatakou

Presentation title:

Storytelling and VR: breathing life to people of the past

Bio:

Despoina is a PhD student in Digital Archaeology at the University of York under the supervision of Dr. Colleen Morgan. Her research focuses on the impact of storytelling and Virtual Reality on the wider public when communicating archaeological data. Her background is in Bronze Age Archaeology, Heritage Management and burial customs.

Abstract:

The aim of my research is to understand how to create more impactful interpretive experiences of the past as well as how to convey life histories through embodied interpretations of archaeological remains such as skeletons and materials.

The research will consist of two main parts. Firstly, three life histories based on individuals buried at a Bronze Age cemetery in Greece called Grave Circle A will be analysed and described in detail.

The second part of the research presents these life histories through three different types of storytelling. The first life story will be a straightforward textual narrative. The second will be an interactive story created using Twine, which will give the user the freedom to explore different storylines and outcomes. The last one will be created and presented to the users through a VR model in a 3D environment.

The research is important as, despite the fact that there are a lot of stories about people in past created both by archaeologists and novelists, there is limited research on their impact on the wider public, which is the target of these stories in the first place.

Our Speaker: Scott Kovacs

Presentation title:

DAVID: A Short Film Exploring the Experience of Schizophrenia

Bio:

Scott Kovacs is an internationally acclaimed award-winning writer/director/producer who creates and develops cutting-edge content for film, television, and theater. He earned a BA in Film & Media Studies at Lafayette College and an MA by Research in Filmmaking at the University of York. His recent work includes his thesis film DAVID, which has appeared at international film festivals where he's received several awards and nominations for writing, directing, and editing. He also co-produced the ground-breaking transmedia project: Billboard, which is currently available on Amazon Prime.

Abstract:

Film Synopsis: DAVID is the story of a young man living with schizophrenia whose ordinary challenges of daily life are complicated by the interference of auditory hallucinations and delusions. When David discovers that his abusive father has been released from prison, he must bravely face his demons or destroy the progress he’s made.

Research: This work uses film to present research undertaken into the experience of living with schizophrenia. It employs a performative methodology using dramatic narrative and experimental audio and visual techniques to communicate an understanding of living with schizophrenia in a way that could not be expressed using text. The audio and visual techniques were developed to better enable viewers to experience the central character’s mental illness first hand; at times placing the audience inside his head while in other instances offering them a more objective point of view.

Our Speaker: Rosamund Portus

Presentation title:

Storying Extinction: Connecting Creativity and Ecology

Bio:

Rosamund Portus is a final year PhD student at the University of York. Her research is rooted in the genre of extinction studies. She specifically examines how the ongoing loss of bees has been invested in, narrated, and challenged through the creative arts sector. Rosamund has previously published papers on rewilding projects and the use of soundscapes as a tool for climate change communication. Her upcoming publication considers how the decline of honeybee populations became framed as an ecological whodunit.

Abstract:

As people become increasingly concerned about environmental issues, creative projects which grapple with environmental topics have begun to take a central role in the creative arts sector. This, in turn, has prompted debate regarding the role that creative exploration might play in shaping environmental crises. Responding to this knowledge, my paper specifically considers the role of creativity in shaping extinction events. To examine this, I draw on research conducted with creative practitioners whose work responds to the loss of bees. In recent years, the world has been enriched with creative projects inspired by bees’ decline: the topic has been engaged with in novels, performances, works of fine art, and more. I illustrate that creative practitioners play a critical role in narrating and bearing witness to stories of nonhuman loss. I further show that, by drawing on creative methods to tell stories of loss, creative practitioners are uniquely well-placed to deepen peoples’ connection with threatened species in non-intrusive ways, make ecological conversations more inclusive, and connect storytelling with direct conservational action. I therefore suggest that, in order to transform the narratives and actions around extinction crises, it is vital to encourage creative practitioners to engage with processes of nonhuman loss.