MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTSGESCHICHTE Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

Event

Apr 15-16, 2026
Methods Intensive Master Class with Temi Odumosu: “Visual Research in Interdisciplinary Contexts“ + “Healing Mode – Ethics of Care in Front of and Behind Visual Documents”

Workshops

  • Workshop I: Visual Research in Interdisciplinary Contexts

    Wednesday, 15. April, 10–15:00 Uhr

    How do we approach visual documents and methodologies in our research? What can we learn from theorizing and practice across disciplines and in concert with contemporary art? In this workshop, we interrogate the complexities of contemporary visual research, with a focus on strategies that encourage reflection around questions of authorship/authority, subject agency, and the enduring “right to look” (Mirzoeff, 2012). We also consider what it means to be close to, or distant from, events, research documents, and their accompanying stories. The goal is to critically inform the various positions we might take in the process of knowledge creation with and through images – whether witnessing, observing, analyzing, capturing, editing, sharing, or, even mourning. 

  • Workshop II: Healing Mode – Ethics of Care in Front of and Behind Visual Documents

    Wednesday, 16. April, 10–15:00 Uhr

    How do we design or curate for affect? What ethics and/or values inform our praxis? This workshop considers what is required to establish responsible image research and sharing practices, specifically regarding sensitive or contested histories and archival materials. Building on Workshop 1, this hands-on session provides an opportunity to practice slow consideration, when we know the stakes are high and the consequences far reaching. Taking personal research documents that haunt, move, or disturb us as a starting point, we will collectively prototype design options for more intentional reproduction and/or reparation, as well as experiment with possibilities for visual narration.

About Temi Odumosu

Temi Odumosu teaches Critical Information Studies at the University of Washington Information School in Seattle, USA, where she is an Assistant Professor and affiliate member of the Center for Advances in Library, Museums, and Archives (CALMA). She holds an MPhil and PhD in Art History from the University of Cambridge in the UK. Dr. Odumosu’s multidisciplinary scholarship and curating interrogate the visual politics and legacies of colonialism, examining how cultural records—such as illustrations and photographs—transmit historical narratives across time and space, from private collections and museum displays to contemporary art and public media. Her current research is concerned with digital remembrance and archival media, where she proposes ethically reflexive frameworks through critical making that reimagine the future of public storytelling. Recent projects include: Annotating the New Union Club: A case study on critical praxis for digital art histories (2025), funded by Paul Mellon Center for Studies in British Art and hosted by open access journal Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (NCAW); her essays on contemporary visual activism “Feeling in the Dark: Rediscovering Black Portraiture as Speculative Metadata” (2023), and “Shooting back/ Speaking forward: Decolonial strategies in the work of Sasha Huber” (2022); and the practical working document “Approaching colonial photographs with care” (2024) for the Digital Benin project.

Organizer(s)
Address
MPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Room
Room 219
Contact and Registration

Workshop spaces are limited and prior registration is required via: 
imprs-office@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de

Please note that workshop days 1 and 2 belong together; you can only register for both days and participation on both days is expected. Please also note the public lecture preceding the Workshop on April 14. 2026:
Do Images Still Matter? Visual Anxieties in the Time of AI

About This Series

The Methods Intensive Master Class @ MPIWG is organized as part of the International Max Planck Research School “Knowledge and Its Resources.” The Master Class series offers a forum where participants from a spectrum of disciplines can critically compare, confront, and combine their specific methodological skills and training in scientific, practical, or humanistic analysis. It serves as a creative platform to explore agendas, discuss limits, and expand the cross-disciplinary boundaries of the history of science.

2026-04-15T10:00:00SAVE IN I-CAL 2026-04-15 10:00:00 2026-04-16 15:00:00 Methods Intensive Master Class with Temi Odumosu: “Visual Research in Interdisciplinary Contexts“ + “Healing Mode – Ethics of Care in Front of and Behind Visual Documents” Workshops Workshop I: Visual Research in Interdisciplinary Contexts Wednesday, 15. April, 10–15:00 Uhr How do we approach visual documents and methodologies in our research? What can we learn from theorizing and practice across disciplines and in concert with contemporary art? In this workshop, we interrogate the complexities of contemporary visual research, with a focus on strategies that encourage reflection around questions of authorship/authority, subject agency, and the enduring “right to look” (Mirzoeff, 2012). We also consider what it means to be close to, or distant from, events, research documents, and their accompanying stories. The goal is to critically inform the various positions we might take in the process of knowledge creation with and through images – whether witnessing, observing, analyzing, capturing, editing, sharing, or, even mourning.  Workshop II: Healing Mode – Ethics of Care in Front of and Behind Visual Documents Wednesday, 16. April, 10–15:00 Uhr How do we design or curate for affect? What ethics and/or values inform our praxis? This workshop considers what is required to establish responsible image research and sharing practices, specifically regarding sensitive or contested histories and archival materials. Building on Workshop 1, this hands-on session provides an opportunity to practice slow consideration, when we know the stakes are high and the consequences far reaching. Taking personal research documents that haunt, move, or disturb us as a starting point, we will collectively prototype design options for more intentional reproduction and/or reparation, as well as experiment with possibilities for visual narration. About Temi Odumosu Temi Odumosu teaches Critical Information Studies at the University of Washington Information School in Seattle, USA, where she is an Assistant Professor and affiliate member of the Center for Advances in Library, Museums, and Archives (CALMA). She holds an MPhil and PhD in Art History from the University of Cambridge in the UK. Dr. Odumosu’s multidisciplinary scholarship and curating interrogate the visual politics and legacies of colonialism, examining how cultural records—such as illustrations and photographs—transmit historical narratives across time and space, from private collections and museum displays to contemporary art and public media. Her current research is concerned with digital remembrance and archival media, where she proposes ethically reflexive frameworks through critical making that reimagine the future of public storytelling. Recent projects include: Annotating the New Union Club: A case study on critical praxis for digital art histories (2025), funded by Paul Mellon Center for Studies in British Art and hosted by open access journal Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (NCAW); her essays on contemporary visual activism “Feeling in the Dark: Rediscovering Black Portraiture as Speculative Metadata” (2023), and “Shooting back/ Speaking forward: Decolonial strategies in the work of Sasha Huber” (2022); and the practical working document “Approaching colonial photographs with care” (2024) for the Digital Benin project. MPIWG, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany Room 219 Lisa OnagaIMPRS Office Lisa OnagaIMPRS Office Europe/Berlin public