NAU’s Story Lab: Art and Storytelling as Tools for Research and Change

Imagine a lab where creativity meets research, where art and storytelling are tools for understanding and improving the world. This is the reality at Northern Arizona University’s Social Science Community Engagement Story Lab (SSCL), where traditional research methods are reimagined through collaborative, artistic approaches.

The Innovative Approach of SSCL

The Social Science Community Engagement Story Lab is a pioneering initiative led by anthropology professor Lisa Jane Hardy. The lab serves as a hub for collaborative research, focusing on public scholarship and creative methods to document experiences. Hardy emphasizes the role of storytelling in research, stating, “We do a lot of work with storytelling to help people communicate what they know and what they do.”

Projects and Collaborations

A notable collaboration involves the Stuck Community Acupuncture program in northern Arizona, which operates on a justice model within tribal lands. With support from the Arizona Community Foundation, Hardy worked with executive director Nox Chetcuti to develop their narrative in the article “Health Justice Two Ways: Examples from the Field.”

Hardy explains the lab’s ongoing initiatives, saying, “We have a project called Rapid Inquiry During Global Events (RIDGE), and we’re continuing the work on that. We have worked with Flagstaff youth to hear how people deal with global events very broadly and have implemented art-based research on that project.”

Building Connections through Research

For Hardy, the essence of anthropological community engagement is about system improvement through connection. “When we finish manuscripts about how we care for people and for ourselves while we’re doing research and practice, one of the things we do is view our science as a means toward finding patterns that we can use to make change and to build connections through creativity,” she says. The lab prioritizes participant control over their data and the openness to learn from unexpected answers.

Public Scholarship and Art-Based Research

The Story Lab supports faculty and students in developing academic papers, research projects, and publications, embracing the intersection of research and artistic expression. Recently, focus groups were conducted in the MakerLab at Cline Library, where participants expressed their worldviews through collage and art using interview transcriptions and discarded books. These creative discussions will inform future publications and policy recommendations.

Hardy describes the lab’s impact, stating, “What I am finding right now is that the Story Lab is a place where we can face imminent local and global challenges and do it with connection and community and creativity. Arts-based research is a good way to find hope and imagination, not because it fixes the problems of the world, but because it allows people to connect, talk and learn from each other.”

Explore more of the lab’s public-facing articles by visiting their website.