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Blog Entry No.5

10.04.22

Most of the work I have been doing since my last entry has involved writing social media content for Changing Relations and outreach through article-writing. I have found Alice Fuller (Digital Media Coordinator) really helpful throughout these tasks.

 Over the course of the placement, one article has been released in Wayzgoose magazine to encourage people to join the student social action group. I am planning another to get people to attend the exhibition which marks the end of the project. I have reached out to Palatinate but have not heard back yet. The first article was met with really encouraging feedback.

Initially, I felt a little out of my depth with writing the social media content as I was aware that I needed to engage with a certain audience and create an effect that would interest readers. I have become accustomed to the academic style of writing used for essays, so transforming my written voice into a more colloquial and catchy tone felt unnatural at first. This is something I feel has improved significantly with practice. Alice initially made slight changes to the drafts I submitted to make sure that they were good enough to publish, but recently they have remained the same from the drafts I put up on the Meta Business Suite to the published posts. Alice even emailed the other day thanking me for the ‘brilliant’ posts I had done for the ‘Let’s Talk About Relationships’ competition.

I began the process by emailing the drafts over in the form of a word document, but have subsequently become an editor on the Changing Relations Facebook page, learning to use the planner on the Meta Business Suite. In this way, I feel as though my initial objectives of refining my writing for a non-academic audience, and learning how to use digital technology, have been met.

 I have also more recently been working with Pollyanna Turner, writing content for a different project (Who Wears the Trousers) which is taking place in Hilde Bede.

 Reflecting back on my time spent with Changing Relations, I have certainly been tested outside my comfort zone and I have learnt a great deal. I feel much more ready and confident with the idea of future employment. I know now that adjusting takes time, and how satisfying it is when you start to get things right. Although my placement will have ended by the time the exhibition which ends the LTAS project, I am looking forward to going to see what the end result is, and to also catch up with the people that I have been working with (most often remotely) over the past 8 months.

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Blog Entry No.4 - 20.11.21

I have finally completed the task of collating all the data from the events at Hartlepool (26.10) and Durham (28-29.10). Because almost all of the information was handwritten, I began with transcribing the notes and answers. There was a lot of data to get through – Lou Brown’s notes, answers from the questionnaire (72 in total), and a few longer questionnaires that I had to fill out manually on SurveyMonkey.

 This task has been trying, in the sense that it is slow work, but also very rewarding. The analysis I did after typing out all of the documents was especially interesting. Through the notes and the answers, I began to notice patterns. There were certain subject matters that cropped up again and again. I went through all my work again in a separate document and colour coded reoccurring themes.

The first thing that was prevalent was a distinct disappointment with sex education in schools. Many students noted how the education they had received dealt only with prescriptive, normative ideas of heterosexual relationships, as proven, in part, by the gender separation and lack of LGBTQ+ experiences discussed. One student even noted that they had been asked to leave class when they had asked about gay sex. Some noted that the focus was placed so heavily on pregnancy and STDs that it had scared students, and took away any aspect of pleasure derived from sex. Two noted that they had to resort to google or media for their sex education.

Spiking also cropped up repeatedly, unsurprising considering the current state of events. I noticed multiple feelings of displeasure at the university’s response to the issue, which placed responsibility on the victims, instead of the perpetrators.

 Entitlement was a theme in Durham, but not in Hartlepool. This, again, is hardly surprising if we take the leaked group chat in 2020 (where posh ‘lads’ joked about sleeping with the ‘poorest girl’) as a reflection on some of the students. I found it interesting here how sexual harassment and entitlement intersected here with class issues (something that Durham has a real problem with).

 There were also multiple conversations and answers concerned with media representation. Students commented on the influence of film in a digital world, especially regarding harmful depictions of toxic or abusive relationships in widespread TV shows such as Euphoria. The unrealistic expectations championed by the pornography industry were also mentioned.

 Finally, there was a number of conversations about harassment and assault. Catcalling emerged as a disturbingly common theme in Hartlepool.

 Collating this data was an interesting and challenging task, which taught me about patience in data entry and analysis. It was eye opening to see how many people felt the same on certain topics. I had always thought that sex education at school had been uninformative and too focused on scientific and heterosexual relations, but the assumption was that this was a drawback of the school I attended. It appears, however, that this is a much wider spread problem in the UK. Again, I am finding my assumptions challenged. Lisa has thanked me for sending over the document, and it feels rewarding to know that this information that I helped to collect, transcribe, and analyse, will be used in the next stage of the project.

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Blog Entry No.3 - 11.11.21

Following the two-day event at the TLC, I met with Lisa, the founder of Changing Relations. She handed over the documents from the event and the one that preceded it (a similar event structure, but at the Northern School of Art, one of the partner institutions for the project). We discussed my aims for the placement, and she noticed that there had been times where I had seemed nervous at the event, especially when approaching students. Confidence is definitely something that I will be trying to work on. We began to discuss learning objectives for my placement with the organisation, and when I left home, I decided on:

gaining confidence in communications,

development of practical research skills (data entry, data analysis),

learning how to use relevant digital technology,

gaining knowledge of the tools and methods used by social enterprises to deliver work (especially when dealing with such sensitive topics),

and to refine writing skills through contributing material.

I believe I now have more clarity about my aims, and am looking forward to try to meet my second objective through the collation of the data I had been given from the events.

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Blog Entry No.2 -30.10.21

For two days I helped work the pop up event in the TLC. Lou Brown (known as GoodStrangeVibes), Lisa Davis (Managing Director and Founder), Felicity, and I were set up in the café with a large table spread with coloured pens and a tablecloth to draw on. Students were invited to sit at the table and actively participate in drawing or writing on the tablecloth. It was a challenge to get people to sit and contribute, and I think students felt awkward and deterred by the openness of the subject matter. I found it especially difficult at first to approach my peers in the café to try and encourage them to join, or, at the very least, to fill in the survey on the back of the postcard, because I was often met with looks of confusion or awkward laughter. This only proves how tabooed the subject of sex is.

 The few who did join spoke passionately about what has been going on in Durham at the moment, especially in relation to the staggering number of spiking incidences (increasingly common via injections). Students do not feel safe in nightclubs, and even in their own college bars. It is upsetting that almost every person who we conversed with personally knew someone who had been a victim of this experience. I realise that this placement is not only going to challenge me in terms of learning new hard skills, but it is also mentally challenging and stimulating. The subject is important and must be spoken about like this, but there were moments where the stark reality of what is going on was difficult to listen to.

 There were a few particularly memorable conversations, such as one student who approached and claimed that ‘the ‘S’ word – that doesn’t happen here.’ He was convinced that students at this university did not engage in sexual acts. This was interesting to me, as the peers I know at Durham are usually open-minded and brazen on the subject matter, and so it was enlightening to realise that for some people, perhaps from certain backgrounds and life experiences, really are in denial that not only does sex happen amongst students, but so does harassment.

 I was in awe of the way that Lou, the artist-in-residence for the first stage of the project, dealt with the situation. They were patient and kind. The experience challenged my assumptions about what I thought I knew about the university that I have been attending for the past two years. It also made me realise that I have certainly decided the right work placement for me. It is not simply about teaching, but I also have much to learn that I did not even realise.

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Blog Entry No.1 - 26.10.21

I have begun my work placement at Changing Relations for the Work of Art placement module. Having spoken to Lisa at the event Hazel organised, I felt inspired by the work that they were doing. Because the organisation has a relatively condensed reach (focusing mainly on Durham University and a few other local institutions), it feels as if it might really make a difference. The subject matters they deal with hit close to home, and I felt inspired to help with what they are doing.

 The first task was simple: Felicity and I spent a day handing out flyers and putting up posters to spread the word about the pop-up event happening at the TLC on October 28-19 2021. Beginning at the Hill Colleges, we distributed the flyers in various college dining rooms and bars, in the Bill Bryson Library, Elvet Riverside, the Student Union, and the Bailey colleges. In the Bill Bryson Library and TLC we set up boxes for people to submit the questionnaires that they filled in, which we will subsequently collect. We spoke to various students and encouraged them to come along to the event. At this point, I have researched Changing Relations and looked into their website and ethos, but still feel a little unclear on what my role will be, and how exactly their projects work. As is often the case starting out anywhere, things in their language and actions are so normalised to the employees who have been working there for a while, that they probably assume that we know what is going on already. I am certain that with a little bit of time and work, that it will become clear, and am approaching the placement with excitement, nerves, and optimism.