For many years, the poster session has been a key fixture of academic conferences and congresses, summarising key information and capturing the audiences’ attention with visual cues.
Here at the Trinity Long Room Hub, PhD researchers have been prompted to go even further, with limited space for summary and the visual element taking an even greater role in communicating their central thesis message. Many of the researchers have been encouraged to use questions to prompt further reflection from the audience and to show how their research provides unique perspectives on societal challenges.
In her poster, Ursula Quill, PhD researcher at Trinity’s School of Law, used imagery of the archway of Dublin Castle to evoke memories of the public celebrations around the referendum results announced in May 2015 and May 2018, around marriage equality and abortion rights respectively. Her research, which looks at ‘Citizen-led Constitutional Reform: Assessing the Promise of Deliberative Democracy’, asks if Citizens’ Assemblies can bridge the gap between citizens and elected representatives? She draws on interviews with members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment and international literature on deliberate systems of democracy.
“This poster draws on the imagery of the Constitution of Ireland, Dublin Castle and the Citizens’ Assembly. It takes the Irish and English text ‘ón bpobal’ and ‘from the people’ from Article 6 of the Constitution which enshrines the fundamental nature of popular sovereignty in the Irish constitutional order. The gold harp and dark blue are inspired by the cover of the Constitution.”
Scotty McQueen is an Early Career Researcher with the School of Creative Arts. His poster portrays a somewhat familiar scene with holiday-makers ascending a scenic mountainous region in a vintage-style travel poster. However, in the place of the usual smiling or tranquil faces, the viewer sees a zombie and a robot with the caption reading ‘Carefree holidays in the apocalypse.’ Scotty’s project looks at apocalyptic concerns and digital disinformation, and how “alternate-reality scenarios might be ethically leveraged for educational purposes.”
“Throughout this dissertation, I explore the darker themes implicit within conspiracy culture and the apocalyptic imaginary as it pertains to those deemed less-than-human, mapping how these themes may be deconstructed and reconstructed in order to guide ethical and data-supported narratives.”
From Trinity’s School of School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences, Honghui Rita Zhu’s poster showcases the transnational context that is the focus of her PhD project on ‘Multilingualism and Language Policy in Transnational Universities.’ Seeking to highlight the diversity of regional Chinese languages or dialects versus the study-abroad trend among Chinese students, her poster states “We are here because you were there," thereby emphasising the dominance of English in a globalised world.
“While English serves as the medium of instruction in some transnational universities based in China, it is important to note that a significant portion of the student body primarily speaks Putonghua and various regional Chinese languages.”
Neha Tetali is an Early Career Researcher with the School of Religion, Theology and Peace Studies. Her project is entitled ‘How can Postcolonial Feminism reimagine Feminist Foreign Policy? The Case of India’.
Her poster showing traditional puppets from north India probes further the idea within her thesis that with representation solely for the sake of inclusion, these women are being puppeteered by larger interests. The bigger question in her poster is “How feminist are foreign policies?” Through her research, Neha looks at Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) official adopted by Sweden in 2014.
“Through my research, I try to unpack what this policy really means, but from a ‘postcolonial feminist’ perspective. Postcolonial Feminist Theory argues that FFPs are drafted by the Global North (developed, high-income nations), and practiced by them on the Global South (low income, culturally marginalised nations). There is a gap in incorporating local knowledge, and lack of analysis of how coloniality and race shapes foreign policy today. This furthers domination of Western liberal notions of equality, peace and justice, ignoring postcolonial feminist voices when creating and implementing Feminist Foreign Policies.”
Early-career researchers are an integral part of the Trinity Long Room Hub’s research and learning environment. Since the building opened in 2010, the Trinity Long Room Hub has been home to up to 50 PhD students and postdoctoral fellows annually, mostly nominated by the Trinity Long Room Hub’s nine partner schools.
Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub, commented on the changing landscape of public scholarship and the increasing need for researchers to demonstrate the relevance of their research to contemporary challenges or questions. “The posters show how effectively these researchers can represent their arguments in visual form. The design exercise itself has helped them to think through the central proposition of their thesis and consider how best to communicate their ideas to different audiences.”
To view all the posters from our Arts and Humanities Early Career Researchers, click here.