Faculty/Staff Daily Digest

The use of photographs in qualitive inquiry is a critical method of collecting, representing, and constructing meaning that represents broad notions of narrative inquiry. Situated at the intersection of critical consciousness, feminist theory, and nontraditional approaches to documentary photography, photovoice is most commonly a form of participatory research where participants in a study are both the subjects of photographs and photographers. The critical method is designed to empower people who are marginalized or whose voices are silenced by society and is a qualitative tool for researchers in a variety of fields including education, human rights, anthropology, human development, sociology, and public health.

By focusing on the concepts of autoethnography, bricolage, and photovoice students in this course will collectively contribute to a photovoice project leading to a product (for publication or presentation) intended to generate dialogue, educate the public, and promote policy change. 

At the conclusion of the course students will be able to:

• Identify primary purposes and goals of photovoice as a method for qualitative inquiry;

• Demonstrate the ability to design and conduct a photovoice project in an ethical manner;

• Identify primary purposes and goals of autoethnography as a qualitative methodology;

• Engage in various forms of bricolage.

This research methods elective is suited for those students with basic theoretical, conceptual, and practical understanding of qualitative inquiry and have an interest in exploring novel methods of research in a collaborative environment.