Multimodal Research Methodologies with Children and Youth

Call for Papers:

We cordially invite you to submit an abstract for the Multimodal Research Methodologies with Children and Youth symposium. This hybrid symposium will take place online and in-person at the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana (Slovenia) on 5th and 6th March 2026.

The need to go beyond text-centric methodologies has been an important tenet in research that aims to understand children and youth’s life worlds (Morelli, 2021-2022; Murray, 2019; Niskac, 2021). Multimodal methodologies enable researchers to deploy diverse tools, practices, and concepts that attend to the diverse ways that children and youth communicate their experiences and perspectives. Challenging the dominance of texts in academic discourses and practices (Westmoreland, 2022), multimodality is not just about combining multiple media in research methodologies; it’s about recognising the diverse sensory modalities in human communication, exploring alternative ways of knowing and constructing knowledge, and reconfiguring different relations in research (Pandian, 2019). In the current digital age, mobile phones, drones, visualisation applications, mapping and graphic software, podcasts, and social media platforms have opened up new possibilities; however, these technologies also introduce new complexities in multimodal research. As we attempt to go beyond figuring out how to collect and read meanings across multimodal data to exploring new forms of theoretical and material triangulation (Bateman, 2022), we reshape the definitions and practices of multimodality.

In this symposium, we invite contributions from researchers and practitioners who are deploying multimodality in their work with children and youth (between 6 to 18 years old). In addition to facilitating conversations that explore contemporary entanglements in multimodal research (Nolas & Varvantakis, 2018), the symposium serves as the pool from which up to seven articles will be selected for a special issue on Multimodal Research Methodologies with Children and Youth in Visual Anthropology.

We welcome abstract submissions for 15-minute presentations, including, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Interdisciplinarity of multimodal methodologies
• Relational research and multimodal methodologies
• Technologies of multimodal methods
• Modes of disseminating multimodal data
• Ethics of engaging children and youth in research using multimodal methodologies
• Benefits and challenges of conducting multimodal research with children and youth
• Collaboration and co-learning in multimodal research
• Advancing multimodal anthropology by engaging in research with children and youth

Please upload your submissions by 30th November 2025 to the link.

Abstracts in MS Word format should contain: 

• the title of the paper;
• the name and affiliation of the author(s);
• contact e-mail;
• five keywords;
• max 100 words short bio;
• 300 words abstract;
• the outline of the multimodal forms of the presentation and potential article (texts, embedded visuals/audio or hyperlinks to other digital platforms...);
• indicate whether you plan to participate in person or online.

In addition, you should submit reference materials (samples of the visual, audio, interactive materials) either compiled into a PDF file or accessible via external link.

The symposium will be in a hybrid format (in-person and online presentations).
We would love to have your in-person participation in Ljubljana; however please note that we cannot cover accommodation, transportation, and meal expenses.

Abstract submissions: November 30, 2025
Abstract acceptance notification: December 21, 2025
Drafts pre-circulated: February 26, 2026
Hybrid conference: March 5 and 6, 2026 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) and online

Contact for additional info: barbara.turk-niskac@zrc-sazu.si 
We look forward to your submissions!

Barbara, Camilla & Chi
Conveners

Dr. Barbara Turk Niskač
Research Fellow
Institute of anthropological and spatial studies, The Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Slovenia

Dr Camilla Morelli
Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology 
University of Bristol 
United Kingdom

Dr. Kim Chi Tran
Visiting Researcher
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam
The Netherlands

References:

• Bateman, J. A. (2022). Multimodality, where next? Some meta-methodological considerations. Multimodality & Society, 2(1), 41–63.
• Morelli, C. (2021-2022). A view from the ground: using participatory photography with hunter-gatherer children (Peru). AnthropoChildren, 3671(10), 2034–8517.
• Murray, J. (2019). Hearing young children's voices. International Journal of Early Years Education, 27(1), 1-5.
• Niskac, T. B. (2021). Of children's play, work and idleness embedded in sociality. Entanglements, 4(1), 70-92.
• Pandian A. 2019. A Possible Anthropology: Methods for Uneasy Times. Durham, NC: Duke University Press
• Westmoreland, M. R. (2022). Multimodality: Reshaping Anthropology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 51(1), 173–194.