About the Group

What we talk about when we talk about “experimental methods” – we mean new avenues of enquiry and innovative approaches; we mean engaging with digital and analogue technologies (as tools and/or subject); we mean interdisciplinary collaboration; we mean public engagement and projects with impact. We take the assertion that ‘the true method of knowledge is experiment’ as our raison d’être. ¹

We exist under the auspices of the humanities, somewhere between the subjective approach of experimental arts practice and the objective approach of scientific experimentation. Our aim is to carve out a space for progressive process- and media-based scholarship where ‘there is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.’ ²

The group for experimental methods in the humanities at Glasgow draws its inspiration from and is linked to the group for Experimental Methods in the Humanities at Columbia University. Our aim is to work in parallel, finding points of convergence wherever and whenever possible.

The Columbia group for experimental methods in the humanities is dedicated “to the rapid prototyping of speculative ideas”. We similarly intend to publish works in progress in all forms: drafts, maps, notes, and sketches. At the same time, we hope to encourage longer term projects that lead to links and partnerships across departments, universities, and geographical spaces.