Everyone Can Be a Community Co-Researcher!
Yes, you read that right! A community co-researcher is a community member who actively participates in the research process. As a community co-researcher, you can contribute local knowledge, lived experience/expertise, and insights, playing a crucial role in shaping collaborative research.
Community members are super important to our work. Our projects provide training in arts-based methods and offer flexible participation opportunities.
Our Methods Include:
Arts-Informed Methods
Arts-informed methods engage a wide array of artistic processes and forms of expression to explore, understand, and represent human experiences. These group-based processes prioritize creativity and visual and narrative expression, engaging participants in activities such as drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, video-making, music, dance, theater, and creative writing.
Community-Engaged Research
We engage with communities as a core principle, meaning that we collaborate and partner with community partners with every initiative from start to finish. In our work, we co-create at every phase, so everyone involved has a voice in shaping what we do together. Your voices and experiences are at the heart of everything we do.
Photovoice
Photovoice is a participatory research method that uses photography to empower participants to document and reflect on their community's strengths and challenges. Participants take or select photographs and create captions in response to prompts and priority topics, and then come together to discuss, share and develop calls to action. Working this way facilitates the co-construction of knowledge and supports advocacy efforts by highlighting community issues through visual narratives.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research focuses on understanding human experiences, behaviors, and social phenomena through non-numeric data. This approach often involves methods such as interviews and focus groups, supporting in-depth insights into individual and group perspectives and contexts.
Digital Storytelling
Digital storytelling involves the creation of short (3-5 minute), personal multimedia stories using a combination of images, audio, and video. Storytellers craft and share their stories, which often include personal reflections, experiences, and insights. This collaborative group approach fosters a deeper connection between storytellers and communities, enhancing understanding and empathy.