Methodology The Next of Kin Time Machine: A Digital Platform for Contextual Genealogy
Research Framework
🕰️ Project: Next of Kin
Next of Kin employs a hybrid methodology drawing on: - Social History & Microhistory: Reconstructing ordinary lives through census data, parish records and archival documents - Genealogy as Research Method: Tracing family lineages to understand intergenerational patterns - Trauma Studies & Epigenetics: Exploring how historical violence and social oppression are inherited across generations - Digital Humanities: Building relational databases to map individual lives against macro-historical forces - Creative Nonfiction & Arts-Based Research: Using poetry, film and narrative to make history emotionally accessible
The project asks: Can the aggregate analysis of ordinary lives reveal discernible patterns of what might be termed “socially engineered trauma”? And can contextual knowledge of ancestral experience affect contemporary wellbeing and sense of belonging?
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