“Scientific investigations”: when science shows itself differently

A new collection entitled “Scientific Investigations” is being released this fall at the Presses de l’Université de Montréal (PUM), offering an original and accessible approach to disseminating scientific approaches in the form of comic strips. Led by Valérie Amiraux, professor of sociology and vice-rector for community and international partnerships at the University of Montreal, and Laurence Monnais, professor of history of medicine and public health at the Institute of Humanities in Medicine of the University of Lausanne and associate professor in the Department of History at UdeM, the collection highlights eclectic research and draws on the talent of two Quebec comic artists for the first volumes, Alexandra Dion-Fortin and Carolina Espinosa.

Chiller in Montreal, directed by Valérie Amiraux and illustrated by Alexandra Dion-Fortin, which focuses on the behavior of young people in public places, and These vaccinations which (did not) take place: chronic pandemic, by Laurence Monnais and Carolina Espinosa, who addresses issues of access to care revealed by an action research project carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, inaugurate the series.

A new collection at PUM

The “Scientific Investigations” collection was born from a reflection on how to disseminate scientific knowledge beyond the usual formats. Valérie Amiraux, a lover of graphic novels and comics, had already tested comics with Salome and the men in black, co-written with Francis Desharnais (Bayard, 2015). She finds in this form of writing a way to access a wider audience, but also to embody the results of research work differently. “The movement towards different modes of dissemination of research results has been observed more over the last ten years in the human and social sciences, sometimes as early as the master’s thesis or doctoral thesis,” she notes. .

The collection aims to encourage researchers to consider these new ways of presenting their work while remaining faithful to university presses. “It’s another form of language, another way of translating and transmitting one’s research. The PUMs offer us a choice setting and have agreed to take the risk of embarking on something completely new without renouncing the rigor of their editorial work,” declares Valérie Amiraux. The collection is aimed at audiences who might not be spontaneously attracted to conferences or reading scientific articles, but who would find themselves seduced by leafing through such a work on the shelves of a local bookstore. “This new PUM collection focuses, to put it another way, on accessibility: the format, the price, the editing work, everything has been thought of so that these works are accessible,” she continues.

Illustrate how a scientific investigation works

The series promotes the investigative process. Valérie Amiraux and Laurence Monnais wish to show how scientists carry out their research, from the formulation of hypotheses to the validation of results through the collection of data, while integrating the doubts, errors and adjustments specific to the scientific process.

Valérie Amiraux explains: “The pandemic made me realize, in a brutal way, to what extent the role of science is contested in the media and political spheres, on all fronts, whatever the discipline. Scientific work is often not only misunderstood, but also devalued. This collection, centered on the investigation process, explains how scientists work, how their discoveries are constructed, and their hypotheses are verified or not. It is very important for me to show that scientific research is not a question of opinion or ideology, but that it is based on a rigorous investigative process.”

She insists on the importance of making this process visible: “Investigation, a simple word often associated with police officers or journalists, well illustrates this idea of ​​progression by stages, of reflection guided by hypotheses and nourished by the interpretation of clues. Certain results sometimes open up other avenues that were not considered, which Laurence shows [Monnais] et Carolina [Espinosa] in their work on hesitation about vaccination in a pandemic context, analyzed urgently and which made it possible to realize the extent to which under-vaccination in certain places had little to do with reluctance to location of the organic product. It is essential to make this work accessible and to promote these approaches to help us think collectively about our common world.”

“Chiller in Montreal”, directed by Valérie Amiraux and illustrated by Alexandra Dion-Fortin

Chiller in Montreal explores the behavior of young people in the city’s public parks through four stories. What do young people do in parks at night? What are their experiences of these places? What place is given to them? The answers to these questions appear throughout the stories.

Based on ethnographic investigations carried out as a team as part of the TRYSPACES project: young people, spaces and transformations, this work is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration bringing together researchers in geography, sociology, anthropology and urban studies. They observed young people in parks, from Montreal North to Pointe-aux-Trembles, to better understand the interactions between them and urban public places, thus bringing a fresh perspective to an often debated subject.

Valérie Amiraux underlines the importance of overcoming simplistic opinions concerning young people. “Science is not an opinion. It is not a question of stating, for example, that what young people do is consistent or not with certain values, expectations, rules. After hundreds of hours of observation in the parks, Nathalie Boucher and Sarah-Maude Cossette draw up, in one of the four stories, the simple but politically powerful observation that adolescent girls have no place to “be” in the public space. Because of the design of street furniture – for very young children – or the layout of the premises – for team sports, for men,” she says.

The choice of the research team to opt for the term chiller in the title of the book, a word from the language of young people that has become common, takes up this observation transversal to the four stories: “Chiller, it’s being in public space without necessarily having a specific activity. It’s not a sporting or musical demonstration, it’s simply “being there”. But this state of being comes up against social constraints, urban realities, differences of gender and social origin. Not everyone has the opportunity to hang out in a park at night or easily navigate neighborhoods different from their own,” says Valérie Amiraux. This book seeks to offer a new look at the daily reality of many young people in Montreal by revealing dynamics that are often invisible or misunderstood in public space.

“These vaccinations which (did not) take place: chronic pandemic”, by Carolina Espinosa and Laurence Monnais

These vaccinations which (did not) take place: chronic pandemic is part of the continuity of the work of Laurence Monnais, notably Vaccinations: the myth of refusal, published by PUM in 2019. This work offers an in-depth reflection on contemporary issues linked to vaccination through the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic as it was experienced and understood by the most vulnerable communities, and the more invisible, from Montreal. The authors address the complexity of individual decisions regarding vaccination, a complexity which, to a certain extent, was particularly revealed in the urgency of the campaign launched at the turn of 2021 and which, at the same time, has remained largely ignored in decision-making and public speeches.

The comic thus returns to collective experiences likely to have fueled a certain distrust among several communities. But above all, the authors underline the consequences of economic, geographical, administrative and cultural obstacles to vaccination. “It is not enough for a vaccine to be free for it to be accessible,” recalls Laurence Monnais and this is a historical reality that we continue to forget.

“What really interested me as a health historian was trying to understand how past experiences, of medical violence or state neglect in particular, could have influenced certain resistances and apprehensions facing vaccination,” she explains. Underlying the book is a criticism of the public discourse which has stigmatized unvaccinated people. Laurence Monnais insists on the need to recognize the heterogeneity of positions and above all to seek to understand the reasons for these non-vaccinations in the context of a pandemic and health emergency but also beyond. To put it another way, for her “it is urgent to address questions of accessibility and legitimate concerns”.

Through their work, Laurence Monnais and Carolina Espinosa propose that public health ways of working with the most invisible individuals and groups in the public and medical space be renewed. Laurence Monnais concludes by saying that “this comic strip allows us to think better to do better next time because there will be other pandemics and other massive vaccination campaigns.”

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