As I am editing the next digest (to be released on Monday), I am taking a second to reflect on some learnings so far. The upcoming digest is a comprehensive index of all of the research digests published to date, and pulling it together demanded a more thorough interrogation of the lessons jumping out along the way.

Structured by three questions, I have asked myself:

I have learnt the skill of slow reading for comprehension. Being able to translate something (i.e academic english to everyday english) requires an ability to truly understand the source material in order to pick out what's needed and what's not.

I have also proved an internal hypothesis about the value of visual aesthetics to supplement traditional ‘knowledge’ or research. Visual language, our shared cultural capital, plus nuanced my own visual taste is an important language, and it’s opened up the possibility of research to the everyday person. I knew it would! Reconcile is proof.

Another interesting lesson - translating research visually and building the infrastructure around this new project has revealed how much I learned when building line & honey. Once you’ve built one public-facing project, you know exactly how to do it again, with iterative adjustments as you go. The mechanisms are the same.

Lastly, I have learnt the power of brevity, and I am learning how to constantly put it into practice. Information overload is a barrier, AND it’s a gateway to overwhelm. This is a constant state for most of us. Brevity is our research digests superpower.

Starting Reconcile has introduced me to the sheer amount of researchers, academics and curious minds that actually want to discuss and critique the institution itself. This is not just through direct chit chat with our new community, but through the algorithm that our Reconcile social presence has built. Fascinating how digital algorithms become both a mirror and an echo chamber of your own message and tastes.

Comments and emails have affirmed how much of a ‘need’ there is…I created Reconcile to scratch my own itch, based on both intuition and a ‘why not’ mentality. I feel pleasantly surprised to see people slipping into the community seamlessly. We all needed this space. 

Responses to the online workshop series has blown my mind. Two workshops in to our three-workshop series, with over 100+ sign-ups and the most positive feedback ever - truly humbled. It's our first soiree into public activations, dedicated to black researchers in the first instance, and they have been our greatest success so far. And designing and delivering these workshops in the same vein (or better 👀) than the methodology I use to create my lecture content in my day job means the workshop content is PREMIUM. Honestly, my best work and best self. The people who have attended, globally and from the UK, and the honestly of the contributions in the rooms. Mind blown. A privilege.

Future. Thinking about, redesigning, decolonising, imagining, wanting to exist in the future has been an unexpected theme.

My positionality, personal interests and professional experiences has meant that there has been a huge leaning towards the black experience, both in the institution and wider society as we discourse across Reconcile. Open access for us means dismantling the rules for everyone, so I love that opening the door for us leaves room for everyone to benefit. This is what accessibility is about.

The institution is inherently oppressive, and dismantling the rules around research and knowledge (which is our little sphere of influence) is a win for all.

A pattern that I have created/leaned into (rather than it naturally occurring) is partnering traditional academic research with modern contemporary art and artists. I think they are a complementary match made in heaven, and will continue to heavily lean into using visual art to accentuate our mission to democratise access to knowledge. Our radical design methodology is a vehicle. One of our greatest tools.

Amberlee from Reconcile Journal

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