So I decided this year to give the Three Minute Thesis at my university a go. It was a really great experience.
For those of you unfamiliar with 3MT. Basically it is a competition for PhD students where they have to do an oral presentation explaining their research in 3 minutes maximum for a non specialized audience. You can learn more about its history and rationale here.
When I first sat to write my presentation, I wanted to quit. How could I organize my thoughts? How would I engage the audience with such a difficult subject? How can I make sense to none specialist audience? And.. And… And?!
But I did it. I was among the finalists but didn’t win the thing. However it was a good learning experience and I’m happy I did it.
I’m not sure if I will get a link for a video of my presentation. But for those who might be interested to know more about my PhD research here is the written version.
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I visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. some years ago. And I still remember how I felt and what I experienced going from one space to another. I also remember a question that started burning inside my head since then.
You see, Horrific events have happened and continue to happen to people worldwide. People who don’t have the means or the capabilities to document and share their histories on such large scales. In particular I thought of the Palestinians. I am Palestinian. My father was born in Jerusalem in 1948. Palestinians since that year have been subjected to forced removal, massacres, occupation and apartheid policies. Yet their narratives have been mis- or under represented.
So the question was; How can Palestinians create spaces that allow people to understand their plight? But there are some considerations to be taken. It has to be low cost as a stateless nation and still under occupation financial resources are limited. And it must be adaptable and dynamic, because though the conflict has a long history, it hasn’t ended yet.
As a designer I’m interested in alternative uses of interactive and digital media as tools for design activism, a field relatively new in design.
And that is how my research question was formulated. I wanted to explore whether using digital and interactive media we can create spatial experiences that carry complex political narratives. To do so, I’m designing a prototype of an interactive installation that shares narratives about Palestine.
In my prototype I’m using low-cost technology like projections on walls and input devices gamers use and buy online for under $100. Using free software I’m building a virtual environment where people can “walk” through and explore. And most of the videos that I’m using; are created and shared online by various activist groups and Palestinians using their mobile phones and cameras.
Ultimately this interactive environment will create the spatial experience of living under occupation.
In my research, my focus is on the design process rather than the end product and thus my main evaluation methods are self-reflections and feedback from experts in the field.
Hopefully my design process can provide a guiding example for other political narratives, which have been contested, over-shadowed, neglected or silenced by better-resourced narratives.
Arundhati Roy, the Indian author and activist said “There’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” I hope that my research will help in raising the voice of those people. So what remains is the question are you willing to listen? Thank you.
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Along side the oration we are allowed one slide with no animation or transition. And my slide was this:
So what do you think of my research? If you have any questions or would like to connect with me please do.
