The Image and Identity Research Collective (IIRC)

Welcome to the Image and Identity Research Collective (IIRC) a project initiated by Sandra Weber from the Department of Education at Concordia University (Montreal), and Claudia Mitchell from the Faculty of Education at McGill University (Montreal).

The collaborators of IIRC share an interest in developing interdisciplinary, image-based research methodologies and artistic forms of representation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.  In our individual and collective projects, we variously use video, film, art installations, photography, performance, and fictional practice to research questions relating to gender, age, body, popular culture, and/or identity.  Many of our projects involve critical self-study and collective inquiry.

In addition to the small group of founding researchers from Concordia and McGill Universities, IIRC's collaborators include faculty and graduate students from other universities as well as independent artists and researchers.  Members of the collective use the website to post their work and to "house" bibliographies and other resources that are useful for image-based research.

The Different kinds of projects which fall within the work of the research collective include:

• The uses of photography in memory work for self-study
• The use of literary forms and live performance to raise critical questions or to represent research and theory
• The exploration of self and identity through artistic installations/productions
• The production and use of documentary/artistic video for theorizing and reporting research