Dr Nina Williams
I am a cultural geographer in the School of Science at 国产精品 Canberra.
My research explores conceptual innovations in the fields of nonrepresentational theory, process philosophy, speculative thinking and post-humanism. In an effort to bring theory into close relationship with practice, a central pursuit of my research is to foreground the role of aesthetics and creative processes as unique means for understanding cultural and ecological change.
My current research project 鈥楾heorising Biodesign: ethics, values, techniques鈥 (funded with a 国产精品 Seed Funding award) explores biodesign initiatives in the fields of textiles and architecture (see ; ; ). The project has involved occupying a Visiting Researcher role at the Design and Living Systems Lab at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. I have also听undertaken research visits as part of this project to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology; Co-Labs in Melbourne; 脡cole Nationale Sup茅rieure听de Cr茅ation Industrielle in Paris; and Open Cell in London.听The key questions guiding this research project are: what kinds of assemblages make up this form of design? How are the traditional durations of design disrupted by bioinspired or bioengineered techniques? What is implied by the ethos of collaborating or co-producing with nature in biodesign discourses? How do practitioners transition from the speculative to manufactured stages of design? What听role do regenerative designs play in the contexts of circular economies and ecological crises?
More broadly my research is concerned with two central themes:听
1. 听To amplify how distinct forms of evaluation and problematisation emerge as part of creative practices. For example, drawing on the philosophy of Henri Bergson, I have theorised creativity as a process that disrupts individual ingenuity and human durations (see ; ). After F茅lix Guattari,听I have challenged the idea that the political potential of art is limited to representational intentions (see discussion of Keiichi Tahara's portrait collection 1978-1987 in听) and subjects (see discussion of Nathalie Sarraute's听Tropisms听颈苍听).听I have sought to re-conceptualise听style, after Gilles Deleuze, Anne Sauvagnargues and Sonia Delaunay, understanding it as a transformative practice rather than as a fixed category (see ).听Also drawing on the philosophy of Deleuze, I have discussed how creative and arts-based geographic research can serve as a site of geographic critique (see听). I have also situated this theme of my research in the context of fashion and style, where the introduction to a special issue I co-organised with Dr Merle Patchett (Bristol University) sought to draw out globally-orientated and decentered approaches to the study of fashion and consider the microsocial problematics and potentials of fashion practices (see 听2022).
2. To develop experimental, qualitative research as generative practico-theoretical events. I have designed experimental methodologies in the contexts of art and curation, walking and mapmaking, and sonic geographies. Through this aspect of my research, I have pursued an interest in disseminating research beyond the academy,听having co-organised and听secured funding for听community and arts-based workshops and exhibitions. My PhD thesis 'An Aesthetic Gait: research in the minor registers of creativity and walking' (completed at the University of Bristol and funded through the Economic and Social Research Council, UK) involved walking interviews in rural landscapes, public workshops on urban field-recording, and immersive engagements with walking art.听I听have also developed Masters level and citizen-led workshops on listening to urban environments via audio recording devices (see ); I have utilised the post-card as a form of mapping (see听; ); and I have curated exhibitions and creative workshops to engage the public in thinking about documenting cities (see ; discussed in ). With collaborators in听Bristol, Canberra, and Link枚ping, I have addressed how post-humanist theoretical interventions reframe methodological practices and expectations in the humanities and social sciences (see ).
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I obtained a BA (hons) in Geography at the University of Manchester听in 2011;听an听MSc in Human Geography: Society and Space听at the University of Bristol in 2012; and a听PhD in Human Geography at the University of Bristol听in 2017. Before commencing my current role at 国产精品 Canberra in 2019,听I worked听as a Research Associate in Urban Living听in the department of Civil Engineering听at the University of Bristol听and as a Lecturer听in Human Geography in the School of Geographical Sciences at the University of Bristol.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
My Research Supervision
Tara Elisabeth Jeyasingh听'Lives, Lines and Lights: problematising geographic thinking with Deleuze and Guattari and Glissant'
Sabrina Shanto听-听'Harassment and the Emotional Geographies of Fear on Public Transport in Dhaka'
Christian Sirois -听'The Yassification of the Balkans: Media, Perception, and Power '
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My Teaching
Current:
ZPEM2213 The Art and Science of Doing Geography听
ZPEM2211 Special Topic in Geography: the social science of ecological crises听
ZPEM1202 Geography 1B: understanding听environments听
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Previous:
ZPEM2207 Social Geography
ZPEM4205 Human Geography Honours Special Topic
ZPEM4002 ZPEM4004 Science听Honours Research听