Safety and Security in Diverse Society Research Group Seminar: Co-creation and Embodied Knowledge

The research group Safety and Security in Diverse Society arranges a seminar at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu on 1-2 August 2023. The key speaker is Dr Elena Vacchelli from the University of Greenwich (UK).

The seminar is open to everyone interested in creative, participatory, and embodied methods – scholars, teachers, artists, activists, and others who might be interested – and includes lectures and practical workshops. We also welcome participants to present and discuss their ongoing and published research. The seminar will be held in English.

Participants can attend free of charge onsite in Joensuu or join in the lectures virtually via Zoom. Participation requires registration.

The seminar is organised in collaboration with BOMOCULT research community and the Department of Social Sciences.

Tentative program

Tuesday 1.8.2023

10.15-11.45 Elena Vacchelli’s lecture: Co-creative approaches for social research: context, tools and practice (onsite and zoom)

11.45-12.30 Lunch (self-funded)

12.30-14 Workshop: Body mapping storytelling (onsite, led by Dr Vacchelli)

Body mapping storytelling is a type of participatory research where participants engage in multimodal and sensory storytelling. This is done through tracing a life-size body outline and using it as a canvas to communicate lived experiences. Body maps are often enriched though drawings, collages and fabrics. This approach has traditionally been used to explore personal and collective experiences of illness, violence and trauma while serving as a catalyst to facilitate the collection of rich data. The body mapping workshop we are proposing today aims to explore experiences of (over)work in academia.

14-14.30 Refreshments

14.30-16.30 Seminar presentations (onsite)

Wednesday 2.8.2023

10.15-11.45 Tiina Sotkasiira’s lecture: Trauma-informed research practice and interviewing (onsite and zoom)

11.45-12.30 Lunch (self-funded)

12.30-14.00 Seminar presentations/workshop on the method of drifting, depends on the number of presentations (onsite)

14-14.30 Planning for future activities (onsite)

Registration until 16.6.2023

Registration deadline: Friday 16.6. 2023 at 23:59 Finnish Time. Register to the seminar by sending an email to Tiina Sotkasiira: tiina.sotkasiira@uef.fi.

In your email, please indicate if you are planning to participate onsite or via Zoom in the lectures only. If you wish to present a paper, please send the title and short (100-150 words) abstract. We will finalise the program after the we know how many papers there will be.

Unfortunately, we are not able to cover costs arising from participation. Zoom links to lectures will be posted to all registered participants.

Speakers

Dr Elena Vacchelli is an associate professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences at the University of Greenwich (UK). She studied Political Science at the University of Milan, Italy, and obtained her PhD at the prestigious Open University's Geography Department, working at the interface between Critical Geography and Sociology. Her teaching and research interests include migration, diversity and social inequality; gender and space; embodiment; art-based and digital research methodologies. She has published a book entitled Embodied research in migration studies. Creative and participatory approaches (2018).

Dr Tiina Sotkasiira is an associate professor of social and public policy at the University of Eastern Finland with a specialisation in the study of international migration, borders and mobilities. She has published extensively on the topics, such as forced migration, minority rights, integration work and everyday security. She has developed embodied and participatory research methods, such as drifting, as part of Breaking borders research collective. Her recent published work includes (De-)Bordering by Laughter. What Can Different Kinds of Laughter Reveal About the Experiences of Everyday Bordering Among Asylum Seekers and Refugees? together with Dr Sanna Ryynänen.