Research in the Arts and Humanities has the potential to offer an often over-looked and distinctive contribution to policy formation across local, national and international landscapes, but how can researchers convey their expertise to policy makers?
In response to this question, the Trinity Long Room Hub team has designed a suite of competency-building policy workshops, organised by Dr Caoimhe Whelan, Research Fellow, Trinity Long Room Hub, starting in February 2021. Trinity’s Arts and Humanities academic and research staff and early career researchers are invited to register for the first workshop on the 23 February, entitled ‘Understanding the Arts and Humanities in the Policy Arena.’
Chaired by Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Hub, this first workshop in a three-part series ‘Bridging the Gap: Arts Humanities Policy Workshops’ will introduce the Arts Humanities policy arena and will map the local and national policy landscape. Participants can expect to gain an understanding of the importance of AH research in policy making, as well as a better view of the local and national policy landscapes and the opportunities for knowledge exchange.
...we want to address the area of policy engagement, to strengthen the interface between the Arts and Humanities and the policy landscape, and to fully develop our potential to shape and inform real-world decisions.
The instructors for this workshop are Mary Doyle, Public Policy Fellow, Trinity Long Room Hub and Professor Lorraine Leeson from Trinity’s Centre for Deaf Studies. Mary Doyle will introduce the national policy landscape, considering, in particular, its relationship to the Arts and Humanities community. Professor Leeson will examine her contribution to policy, with focus on the work of the Trinity Centre for Deaf Studies in relation to the Irish Sign Language Act, brought about by over 30 years of lobbying and political buy-in. Both speakers will address the importance of fostering relationships, supporting greater links between academia and policy makers, and appreciating how the Arts and Humanities can work with policy makers to help shape our society.
Mary Doyle, formerly the Deputy Secretary General of the Department of Education and Skills, has been a Public Policy Fellow at the Hub for the past year, and has authored the recently published position paper, ‘Research for public policy and society: building a stronger architecture for Ireland.’ Describing Ireland’s research expertise as a “significant national strategic asset”, Ms Doyle observes that “the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated, the need for reliable research, evidence and thinking that can inform public debate and policy...”, adding “Covid-19 is just one area of complex national policy which needs input from a range of disciplines and a wide range of perspectives.” Ms Doyle will also speak at the upcoming Royal Irish Academy (RIA) seminar series ‘Research for Public Policy’, this Wednesday, 10th February.
In a recent blog post for the Hub, Professor Lorraine Leeson highlighted the challenges Covid-19 pose to the deaf community, and how access to information about the virus and the government guidance issued in the NPHET briefings was initially of concern to the deaf community. Professor Leeson is currently Trinity’s Associate Dean of Research and has published widely on aspects of the linguistics and applied linguistics of signed languages with a specific interest in Irish Sign Language and sign language interpreting. Her research work is multidisciplinary in nature, influenced by her background in Deaf Studies, Gender Studies and Linguistics.
The Policy Initiative workshops build on an introductory policy roundtable, hosted by the Trinity Long Room Hub on the 8th of December 2020, which opened the question of Arts Humanities relevance to the research-policy space. The purpose of the roundtable was to begin to develop a vision of how Arts Humanities disciplines might be brought into a more productive relationship with governmental and legislative policy initiatives, and what incentives within academia, funding bodies and policy arenas could help facilitate, support and develop this research-policy collaboration and potential for impactful change. The panel of speakers included Professor Emeritus Ellen Hazelkorn (Technical University Dublin) and Eunan O’Halpin, Professor Emeritus of Trinity College Dublin. Also speaking was Mary Doyle, Public Policy Fellow at the Hub.
Over 40 researchers from within Trinity attended this event, as well as the Chair of the Irish Humanities Alliance (IHA), Dr Niamh NicGhabhann (University of Limerick), and the Director of the Moore Institute, Professor Daniel Carey (NUIG), both of whom were heavily involved in producing papers for the IHA in 2020 on how AHSS can contribute during the Covid-19 crisis.
Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, described the new Arts Humanities Policy Initiative as a first step in helping researchers to better engage with policy: “In line with the excellent work the Hub is doing in advancing scholarship and research, we want to address the area of policy engagement, to strengthen the interface between the Arts and Humanities and the policy landscape, and to fully develop our potential to shape and inform real-world decisions.”
Upcoming workshops in the series ‘Bridging the Gap: Arts Humanities Policy Workshops’:
Policy Workshop 1: Understanding the Arts and Humanities in the Policy Arena
Tuesday 23 February, 2021 | 13:00-14:00
Instructors: Mary Doyle, Public Policy Fellow, Trinity Long Room Hub and retired senior civil servant; Professor Lorraine Leeson, Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin.
Policy Workshop 2: Embedding the Arts and Humanities in the policy arena
Tuesday 23 March, 2021 | 13:00-14:00
Instructors: Professor Chris Morash, School of English Trinity College Dublin; Dr Ruth Barton, Film Studies Trinity College Dublin.
Policy Workshop 3: Communication for Policy Engagement
Tuesday 20 April 2021 | 13:00-14:00
Instructors: Sarah Bowman, Director of Strategic Engagement and Impact Assessment, Office of the Dean of Research Trinity College Dublin; Dr Kate Smyth, Trinity Research and Innovation, Consultancy Development AHSS, TCD; Dr Doireann Wallace, Project Manager, SHAPE-ID, Trinity Long Room Hub
See the Arts Humanities Policy Initiative page for further details on the workshops.