Over the past decade, co-creative, participatory as well as sensorial and immersive audiovisual media have increasingly been introduced as methods of research in visual anthropology. Since 2019, the VR-funded research-environment entitled “Social Institutions, Political Governance, and Integration of Refugees (SIPGI)”, a collaboration between the Centre for Global Migration (CGM) at Gothenburg University and K3, the School of Arts and Communication, at Malmö University, has used participatory 360-video as a methodology for a multi-sited ethnographic enquiry with Syrians living in urban areas in Sweden, Turkey and Jordan. The approach combines transect walking with 360 video and methods of participatory theatre and cinematic Virtual Reality (VR), for participatory immersive audiovisual storytelling with Syrians.

 Presenter Joshka Wessels is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Associate Professor in Media and Communication Studies with a background in Visual Anthropology at the School of Arts and Communication (K3). She teaches Communication for Development (ComDev). Her interests are in communication and media for change, citizen media and social movements and she has expertise in environmental issues and conflict areas. Next to broadcast documentaries, she also produced award-winning VR360 experiences. She is keen on exploring the use of video and immersive media in research and combining her scholarly and media production skills in her innovative methods. (https://mau.se/en/persons/josepha.wessels/)