This one day workshop is primarily intended to be of interest to
postgraduates who are interested in discussing research issues in Africa.
There has been considerable interest in attending the meeting, but we are
still looking for people prepared to talk about recent research experience.
Researching Africa: methods and reflections
2nd One day Workshop
Saturday May 6th , 10.30am -6.30pm
St Antony's College, Oxford
Call for speakers and participants
Following the success of the 1998 meeting a second one day seminar is
planned to discuss issues of research and fieldwork in Africa. This
multidisciplinary meeting will bring together postgraduates and other
researchers with recent experience of African field and archive work. It is
intended to divide the day into three or four themed panel discussions with
short papers followed by more extended discussions of the relevant issues.
This will provide a context for informal, but informed, discussion of
practical, theoretical and philosophical issues that confront researchers in
Africa. The workshop will be of particular interest to those preparing to
undertake fieldwork in Africa in the near future, as well as to more
experienced researchers. We are interested in hearing from anyone who would
like to present a ten minute paper about recent research experience which
will provoke discussion on the following, or related, themes:
The ethics of co-operation
Should you employ research assistants? If you work with local professional
colleagues from African Universities or NGOs what should they do for you?
And what should you do for them? How can we deliver the results of research
to local communities? Is it better to work with international or local
institutions? Are research permits absolutely necessary?
Methodology and Politics
Do outsiders have the right to take a political side in Africa? Is it
possible to avoid taking a political side in certain circumstances? Are
researchers advocates on behalf of the researched? How do current conflicts
influence the collection of oral histories? How seriously can you take
rumours and gossip? What are the political responsibilities of intellectuals
in the African context?
When in Rome do as the Romans
When you are carrying out research do you listen to the BBC World service
or should you listen to local radio? Do western novels belong in the
fieldworker's rucksack or should you only be reading local newspapers? Are
researchers insiders or outsiders?
As others see us
How is the identity of the researcher constructed by the people they
interview? How does that identity condition interview responses? How
successfully, for example, can European men research the lives of African
women? Or European women African men? What previous experiences have
interviewees had of being interviewed? What are their expectations?
Suggestions for contributions outside these themes are also very welcome. If
you would be interested in presenting a paper, or in attending the meeting,
please contact either Ben Page at St. Antony's College, Oxford OX2 6JF
(e-mail: [log in to unmask]) or Mark Leopold at St Anne's College,
Oxford OX2 6HS.
Workshop sponsored by The African Studies Seminar and St. Antony's College,
Oxford
Ben Page
School of Geography
Mansfield Road
Oxford OX1 3TB
01865 271 919
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