Fieldwork in Languages, Cultures and Societies
About
The Fieldwork in Languages, Cultures and Societies research group launched at a symposium held at the Institute in the summer of 2017.
The summer school event was attended by researchers at various stages of their doctoral and post-doctoral careers. In practical and theoretical talks and workshops participants explored, with the team members listed below, various challenges and opportunities that fieldwork presents.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the project went online. The team has delivered two series of online seminars in the theory and practice of fieldwork for researchers in Languages, Cultures and Societies.
The online programme was very well received by our participants so we are still delivering our seminars and training sessions via Zoom in 2022-23. We are hoping to integrate more in-person activities in the course of this year, including at conferences and summer schools.
In addition to the seminars, an interdisciplinary collection of articles, books, toolkits, conference contributions, podcasts and other resources related to fieldwork is available: An Interdisciplinary Bibliography of Fieldwork Resources for Researchers in Modern Languages, Cultures and Societies. Please see further information under Resources below.
Seminars
The Fieldwork in Languages, Cultures and Societies research group supports scholars of languages and related disciplines undertaking research in multilingual and challenging research sites across the globe. Our aim is to help you identify existing skills that can be deployed in the field and develop further knowledge and skills to help when you are both designing projects and conducting fieldwork.
The annual series of seminars Fieldwork in Languages, Cultures and Societies is delivered by a team of researchers with specialist expertise in a broad range of fieldwork contexts. They are predominantly in academic posts at universities across the UK but our team also includes practitioners in related professions with significant fieldwork experience. You can find more information about the team members and seminar leaders, and details of the particular fieldwork experience they bring to the sessions at https://port.sas.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=5449. Please note that the Institute in which the research group is working has changed its name in 2022 from Modern Languages Research (IMLR) to Research in Languages, Cultures and Societies (ILCS). Consequently, documents produced before October 2022 still use our earlier title, Fieldwork in Modern Languages research group.
The seminar programme below is organised by the Fieldwork research group at the ILCS and is delivered within a broader Institute- and School-wide programme open to scholars in a range of disciplines at various stages of their research careers. The School-wide programme is managed by Kremena Velinova.
A booking link is provided for each seminar. All participants need to register in advance of the seminar, and please note that some seminars have restricted numbers. These booking links are published at least a month in advance of seminars. Please contact Dr Naomi Wells if you need any help with booking. For information on the Fieldwork in Languages, Cultures and Societies programme please contact Professor Claire Griffiths, research group chair. We hope you will find the seminar programme of interest and use.
Seminars take place on Wednesday afternoons on Zoom. All details are given in the booking links.
1. Introduction to Fieldwork Methods
Working with and Interviewing Writers, Artists and Filmmakers
Seminar leader: Joe Ford
Wednesday, 22 November 2022, 14:00–15:30
2. Working in the Field: Challenges and Methods
Ethnography and Modern Languages Research
Seminar leaders: Naomi Wells and Ainhoa Montoya
Wednesday, 11 January 2023, 14:00–15:00
Wednesday, 18 January 2023, 14:00–15:00
Conducting Research in Post-Conflict Contexts (postponed to 2023-24)
Seminar leaders: Catherine Gilbert and Ariana Markowitz
Working in the Field: Photographic Methods
Seminar leaders: Tom Martin and Chandra Morrison
Wednesday, 8 March 2023, 13:00–16:00
3. Decolonising Fieldwork: Challenges and Methods
Can Data be Decolonised for Fieldwork
Seminar leaders: Claire Griffiths and Monika Kukolova
Wednesday, 26 April 2023, 14:00–16:00
Conducting Fieldwork in and with Indigenous Communities
Seminar leaders: Kaya Davies Hayon and Fadma Aït Mous
Tuesday, 16 May 2023, 14:00–15:30
Using Local Language and Local Culture in Fieldwork for Social Change
Seminar leader: Fiona de Hoog Cius
Wednesday, 24 May 2023, 14:00–15:30
Resources
The Interdisciplinary Bibliography of Fieldwork Resources began to take shape at the first face-to-face symposium on fieldwork for Modern Linguists held at the Institute in 2017. It has undergone an exponential expansion, accelerated in recent times by the global pandemic.
In the early months of 2020, scholars from across the arts, humanities and social sciences around the globe started sharing resources on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on research and fieldwork. We embraced this unprecedented level of collaboration across the disciplines as an opportunity to collate resources.
The bibliography now unites several shorter discipline-specific bibliographies, numerous reading lists, podcasts, conference recordings, and other materials shared by colleagues across the world, working in a range of related disciplines, in response to the fieldwork challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic. These resources are the result of a worldwide collaboration; they are crowd-sourced and we are constantly adding to them.
If you are new to fieldwork, you may like to familiarise yourself firstly with the materials suggested in the key reading sections of the seminars you wish to join, but you may also find valuable information of relevance to your research plans in the bibliography.
If you are a supervisor/mentor, you may wish to select from the self-access materials to identify those best adapted to your supervisees’ fields and requirements.
If you would like any further information about any of this, please contact Professor Claire Griffiths.
