Kind of blue : can communication research matter? created by Viola Candice Milton

This article explores the linkages between the Humanities, activism and scholarship within the contemporary Communication Science environment in South Africa. It argues that shifting media landscapes lend urgency to sustaining and transforming scholarship in the Humanities to be more responsive to socially relevant research questions cognisant of the lived experiences in the contexts within which we conduct our research. It is argued here that the intellectual instability and disruption experienced in the Humanities is in fact creating opportunities for meaningful and impactful reinvigoration of the Humanities vis-a-vis humanistic scholarship and activism. While there is a long tradition in the Humanities of scholar-activists who connect their research to social justice issues and challenges, it is unfortunately not uncommon within the academy for lived experience to be dismissed as unscientific or not relevant to real, objective scholarship. Yet, current shifts in the field open opportunities for humanistic scholars who experience themselves as “on the margins” and disempowered to be given a stronger voice and have their claims to knowledge heard.