Researchers at the Sydney node of the Centre for the History of Emotions will have to pack their topics down into 6 minute presentations for Death(cha) Kucha to be held at Carriageworks in Redfern on Friday 8 March.
One of the resident companies at Carriageworks, Performance Space, asked the CHE in Sydney to curate some of the public programming for their current theatre season Matters of Life and Death. Sydney postdoctoral researchers Rebecca F. McNamara and Una McIlvenna, as well as Joanne McEwan, a CHE Associate Investigator based at the University of Western Australia, will present their research into emotions related to death and dying. They will be joined by Diana Jefferies, a clinical nurse and lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Western Sydney, and also Zoe Alderton and Atilla Orel, both PhD candidates at the University of Sydney.
The night will run in ‘pecha kucha’ format, where presenters must limit their presentations to 20 slides timed to 20 seconds each. Gabriel Watts, Education and Outreach Officer with the Sydney node of the CHE says, “the aim is to introduce new audiences to the research coming out of the Centre for the History of Emotions, especially research that investigates links between emotions and mental health in the past, which could be of interest to medical practitioners now.” Mr Watts says that the pecha kucha format encourages speakers to find the simplest way to present their research. “Pecha Kucha translates to ‘chit chat’ in Japanese. The emphasis is less on the specific content of what you study and more on why your research matters. It’s a perfect forum to engage the kind of audience that aren’t likely to read your paper, but are interested to know about top class research.”
Death(cha) Kucha will be held Friday 8 March, 6pm – 7.30pm at Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh. Cost is $10, and advance booking is recommended. More information as well as tickets can be found at www.performancespace.com.au or by ringing Performance Space on (02) 8571 9111.
Posted by Gabriel Watts
Histories of Emotion 
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