When is Water Not Water?

PI: Dr. Lucy Elvis 

Postgraduate Researcher: Michela Dianetti 

Funder: College of Arts Sciences and Celtic Studies, Research Development Grant  

About: This Blue Humanities Project used the Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CPI) as a way of thinking about water, a resource that, in Galway especially is both ubiquitous and precious. It responded to a need expressed by local teachers for more innovative ways to speak about water conservation, a key theme in the Green Schools Programme. Ordinarily, approaches to sustainability focus on providing students with information about the environment, but such information doesn’t always capture the imagination. 

The project was designed as an extended CPI examining the question: What is more effective at changing behaviour, information or inspiration? In a CPI, participants work, with the help of a facilitator, to investigate potential answers to their shared question through the provision of positions, testing of reasons and the exploration of evidence through dialogue.  

In When is Water not Water? evidence for our collective inquiry had three forms: our experience of water, the knowledge gained on campus, and the experience of engaging with researchers communicating ideas they cared about. At the end of the project, a book was created as a way of exploring thinking, and capturing learning beyond the ephemeral context of collective speaking. 

Two classes from Knocknacarra Educate Together National School Galway, were invited to participate in the project, which had five phases. i) Initial sharing of the question, ii) On-campus activities, iii) In-school inquiries and iv) Creative outcomes v) Celebrating our work.   

i)           SHARING We shared the initial question with each class via email. Teachers read the project outline and invitation aloud and students voted on whether they would like to take part. 

ii)         ON-CAMPUS Students visited campus for one day. On their visit, they met four different researchers who talked to them about how water appears in their research or teaching and what their academic life is like. These researchers were: Dr Sarah Corrigan a post-doctoral researcher in classics who talked to them about ancient maps and sea monsters in ancient celtic manuscripts, Dr EavanO’Dochairtaigh, an early career researcher in English, who shared her research on the Arctic in 19th Century archives with them, Lecturer and project lead Dr Lucy Elvis who talked to them about the sublime in philosophy and art history and PhD students Michela Dianetti and Julie Agu who talked to them about Heraclitus’ riddle of the river. The children made their own notes during the workshop in a template designed for them and took these back to school. 

iii)        IN SCHOOL INQUIRY A week later, Dr Lucy Elvis, Michela Dianetti and undergraduate project intern Meghan Cook visited the school to support both classes in inquiring into the central question: ‘Is information or inspiration most effective in changing people’s behaviour?’ These 90-minute sessions included concept-focused games, group work thinking about how we would conceptualise the experience on-campus (i.e. were we inspired or informed, or both? Which evidence would we draw on to base our judgment) and a whole-class inquiry. (An attempt to collectively answer the question by providing, for instance: positions, reasons, examples, counter-examples and analogies.) 

iv)        CREATIVE OUTCOMES Dr Lucy Elvis and Michela Dianetti designed creative writing challenges inspired by the topics covered in the on-campus workshops. These included letter writing, poetry, short-stories and travel guides. Artist and Illustrator Lara Luxardi supported the students to create monotype illustrations and watercolour details to depict elements of their writing. You can see the final products of these in the book enclosed. 

v) CELEBRATING on October 26th we held a book launch on campus to share this project with the children, teachers, their families and other researchers. Each child received a copy of the book, their original artwork and appreciations. These were short anonymous notes from their classmates and one longer appreciation from the P4C team based on their notes from the workshops and inquiry sessions. These highlighted the ways in which their ideas and efforts supported the thinking of the group. 

The book created by the classes is now part of the Galway County Libraries Schools collection with a corresponding lesson plan that teachers can deliver themselves. 

If you would like to get involved in philosophy projects like these, or collaborate on humanities outreach, please email: lucy.elvis@universityofgalway.ie