The International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA), a not-for-profit community of researchers, educators, designers, media specialists, and artists dedicated to the principles of visual literacy, announced on 1 August that Drs TJ Thomson and Shehab Uddin are recipients of its 2022 research grant award.
Dr TJ Thomson is a senior lecturer in visual communication and media at the QUT School of Communication and a Chief Investigator at the QUT Digital Media Research Centre. Dr Uddin is a sessional academic in the QUT School of Communication and is also an adjunct senior lecturer at the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The IVLA funding supports a project, How smartphone cameras are impacting contemporary Western visual culture and literacy, the pair began in 2021 that examines how specific technical affordances, such as ‘portrait mode’ and the ergonomics of smartphones, are affecting visual culture and visual literacy in different age cohorts.
The team is still recruiting participants aged 13-19 and 41-64 who will be compensated $50 for their participation. You can express your interest here.
Founded in 1968, the International Visual Literacy Association is an interdisciplinary organization of professionals working toward a fuller understanding of the way we derive meaning from what we see and the way we interact with our visual environment.
The QUT School of Communication and the DMRC are ranked first in Australia and 15th globally for media and communication studies, according to the 2022 QS World University Rankings by Subject.