What to expect

The course is structured in three parts:

Chapter 1 – What is research?

This chapter covers the general principles of scholarly work: why we research, what research requires, how to proceed methodically, which quality criteria apply, and where the line lies between informal inquiry and academically robust research.

Chapter 2 – What is Artistic Research?

This chapter develops a philosophical foundation for the field through three building blocks: epistemology (the kind of knowledge artistic research produces, including the concepts of metacognition and intersubjective resonance), ontology (where this knowledge is located and in which artefacts it manifests and a positioning of artistic research within the spectrum of scholarly methods between pure objectivity and artistic subjectivity.

Chapter 3 – A context for artistic research

This chapter traces the genesis of artistic research — from its historical roots to its institutionalisation through the Bologna Process, the Salzburg and Florence Principles — and gives an overview of key actors, institutions, funding programmes and publication venues in the European, particularly German, context, along with a critical look at current scepticism and future prospects.

Throughout, the course combines theoretical grounding with a personal, practice-based perspective from the author as an active practitioner in the field.