Representation in the fine art practice history and theory subject guide bibliography
My proposed intervention is to diversify the fine art practice history and theory subject guide bibliography to meet contemporary student research needs, uphold the institutions stated social justice focus, and to reflect the diversity in our student and staff body.
As students embark on the written critical contextual modules of their BA fine art courses one of the resources we most often recommend a starting point for accessing core texts is the fine art subject guide bibliography. This resource is organised by theme, and is a non-exhaustive but significant list of texts recommended by members of the academic and library teams put together some years ago. While we have been increasingly acquiring diverse materials for the library collections the resources listed in this guide do not reflect enough of that diversity, partly due to having stopped at a point in time, and possibly due to an absence of diverse viewpoints in it’s original collation.
Over the course of the last couple of years supporting students with their research in 1:1 tutorials and group settings I have noticed a disconnect between trends in research topics and the themes listed (or in this context represented) in the bibliography. This disconnect has been highlighted by the introduction of expectations that a social justice aspect be addressed in all BA fine art dissertations, however there had already been clear interest in students’ research to include communities, identities, social challenges, climate concerns, and activism. I have had repeated instances of students relating their research area, showing them where to find our resource for recommended texts, and then scrolling through to find little or no supporting theme or material for their social justice aspect.
I have recently been working on the accessibility of the list by adding live links to the library catalogue for all resources listed (minimising barriers created by the need for further searching) and creating better visibility of e-books to support students using assistive tech or working from off-site. I have now shared the plan to diversify and increase inclusive representation on the list with academic and library colleagues, to enlist support and feedback. I hope to have the revised resource available for the start of the 25-26 academic year to support research needs of the next dissertation-level project cohort, and those that follow.
In progress list of the additional themes for the bibliography.
Thank you Grace for sharing your proposed intervention, which involves diversifying the Fine Art practice history and theory subject guide bibliography.
Your intervention is clear, well-articulated, and responds to a clear need in your context. It also has real potential in terms of being a sustainable intervention, which can support many students (and teaching staff) in a practical, tangible way. It seems like the largest potential tension is deciding what makes it onto the list: Who decides? How? How are any biases or oversights mitigated against? I know some of this will be covered through discussions with colleagues.
It’s also great that you’re considering accessibility and inclusivity in the bibliography itself (e.g. including links), as this shows a holistic approach to thinking about inclusion. I’m wondering whether there are other ways to make the list accessible and navigable, as the ‘long list’ format may be a bit daunting. I’m also curious whether you’ll consider including multi-language and/or audio-visual resources (if appropriate) given that text can present a barrier to some students.
Finally, please find some further questions/thoughts as provocations to support the development of your intervention plan:
– How will you ensure that the bibliography remains up-to-date in the longer term? You mentioned that it got ‘frozen in time’ previously, so how do you plan to avoid that happening again? This links to the idea of it being a ‘sustainable’ intervention.
– It would be valuable if you can draw upon some relevant data to further justify this intervention. I recommend using dashboards.arts.ac.uk to look at relevant data for Fine Art, such as awarding gaps, retention/continuation gaps, and NSS data. This should be a ‘quick win’ given your proposal.
– When you get to your reflective report, you will need to articulate about your own positionality in relation to your intervention, so do keep this in mind throughout the intervention’s development. How does your positionality influence the choices you make, and what potential biases may you need to mitigate against? It’s great that you’re getting feedback from academic and library colleagues – are there any potential ‘blind spot’s remaining?
Many thanks for giving me so many start points to develop on this Carys. Definitely some elements I had not considered here, and I’m looking forward to figuring out next steps on this!
Fab – glad it was helpful! Such a great idea for an intervention, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it progresses.
Hi Grace,
Your intervention plan is rooted in the engagement with students in 1:1 and group settings, and clearly addresses the disconnect between the current bibliography and the lived research practices. This is so practical and I feel students/researchers will definitely benefit a lot from your plan, so thank you for coming up with this. Being your student must be a wonderful experience.
I also have a similar question to Cary’s, do you plan to establish a, perhaps, biennial, triennial review process for the gap as the world is evolving? If so, what audit framework you might be using to ensure the resources we have are diverse enough?
As you mentioned that you’ve started sharing and consulting with your colleagues, I was wondering if you’ve considered having an informal chat with your counterparts at other universities. They might also be facing a similar situation (or maybe not) — it could be interesting to know how they are responding and what their processes are.
I really like your idea of adding live catalogue links and making e-books more visible — it shows you’re thinking about students who might have accessibility needs or limited remote access. It also really reflects the spirit of our Inclusive Practice unit. That’s fantastic!
Thanks so much for this input Gwen. Prior to you and Carys highlighting the need to future-proof the resource I hadn’t thought about building in an expectation of cyclical reviews. Had this been in place before it wouldn’t need such a big overhaul now so it’s a valuable suggestion and I will definitely need to incorporate it. I have asked a particularly engaged student whose research this past year was poorly supported by the resource for their feedback. It’s a really good idea to also seek an external input. I will see what I can do!
This is interesting, Grace, I find your intervention plan quite thoughtful and relevant, and very much well-aligned with the current pedagogical priorities in higher education in general. Most importantly, you have clearly identified the problem: the obsolete and inadequately diverse bibliography which does not align with the current student research interests, as well as the institutional obligations to social justice. This situates your intervention within both pedagogical practice and institutional strategy. It is also commendable how your observations are grounded in first-hand experience of supporting students, which justifies the credibility of your intervention. The action that you have already taken to improve equity and accessibility (the live links, visibility of e-books) shows your commitment to inclusion, not only in content, but also usability, which can easily be underestimated or overlooked (unconsciously of course). Just a few points that you might want to consider: how are you going to identify the new texts? Are you going to perhaps use a framework or certain criteria? You might also consider including student input, especially those from under-represented groups (to add richness and legitimacy to the bibliography).
Having said that, you have a well-conceived sound intervention that is aimed at responding meaningfully to student needs, as well as institutional values. If you could strengthen it by being specific in terms of the process, dissemination, and possible evaluation, you could be in a better position to push for its implementation.
Thanks so much for this comment Hatie. I really appreciate your phrasing of ‘This situates your intervention within both pedagogical practice and institutional strategy’ as I hadn’t managed to capture these two threads succinctly. I have started to explore the process for enacting the project, particularly engaging with colleagues who have been at UAL longer and have more knowledge of how the original list was built up. I am hoping to ensure both student and academic team contribute to the revised listings, but as you suggest I will need a framework or parameters to ensure we meet the objectives. Luckily the implementation is in my hands and so if I don’t get enough contributions I will still be able to proceed, it will just mean more research and taking a bit longer to complete.