Dates: April 12, 13 and 14, 2010
Location: Utrecht University
Time: 10 am – 1 pm & 2 pm – 5 pm
Teachers:
* Prof. dr. Gloria Wekker, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Prof. Gloria Wekker holds the Aletta-chair in gender and ethnicity in the faculty of the Arts at Utrecht University and is the director of GEM, the Center of Expertise on Gender, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism in Higher Education, at the same university.
Her research interests include the following themes: constructions of sexual subjectivity in the Black Diaspora; the history of the black, migrant and refugee Women's Movement in the Netherlands; gendered and ethnicized knowledge systems in the Dutch academy and society; and Higher Education in the Netherlands. In April 2006, Columbia University Press published The Politics of Passion; Women’s sexual Culture in the Afro-Surinamese Diaspora for which she received the Ruth Benedict Prize of American Anthropological Association (2007).
Wekker participates in the development of multicultural and anti-racist gender theory in the Netherlands. Within Women's Studies, she situates herself as a representative of intersectional and transnational gender theory. In addition, Wekker writes poetry and prose and is on the editorial board of several international journals in the fields of the Social Sciences, Queer and Feminist Studies.
* Dr. Fataneh Farahani, Stockholm University, Sweden
Fataneh Farahani has a PhD in Ethnology from the Department of Ethnology, Comparative Religion and Gender Studies at Stockholm University and currently is a postdoctoral fellow at Centre for Research in International Migration and Ethnic Relations (CEIFO) at Stockholm University. Fataneh’s published doctoral thesis, “Diasporic Narratives of Sexuality: Identity Formation among Iranian- Swedish Women,” is an ethnographical account of sexuality among Iranian women living in Sweden and was awarded for 2007 best dissertation of faculty of humanity at Stockholm University. Building upon her doctoral thesis, for her current research, Fataneh seeks to examine the under-researched area of (re)presentation of masculinity and sexuality of Iranian men in three heterogeneous cities; Stockholm, Sydney and London. Fataneh has extensive teaching experience and the topic of her interests and teaching are primarily on postcolonial theories, transnational feminism and sexuality, diaspora, feminist and queer theory, whiteness studies, Islam and sexuality.
* M.A. Rebecca Walker, Author and Honorary Doctor of Letters from North Carolina School of the Arts, USA
Rebecca Walker is an award-winning author and lecturer based in Hawaii. Her work focuses on intergenerational feminism(s), emerging masculinities, the role of bisexuality in LGBTQ communities, and the evolution of multiracial identity in contemporary global discourse. Walker is one of the main proponents of Third Wave feminism(s), and the co-founder of Third Wave Foundation, an activist philanthropic organization supporting the empowerment of women and transgender youth aged 15-30. Upon publication of her first book To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism, Time Magazine named her one of the most influential leaders under forty in the United States. Walker's second book, Black White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self, was an international bestseller. Her 2007 memoir, Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence sparked productive controversy about the role of motherhood within feminism(s) in both academia and mainstream media. Her latest collection, One Big Happy Family, explores the explosion of non-traditional family configurations in the US, and includes perspectives on polyamory, transracial adoption, househusbandry, and single motherhood. Walker holds a BA from Yale University and an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the North Carolina School of the Arts. She parents avidly, writes constantly, lectures widely, and teaches seminars on creative non-fiction and the art of memoir around the world.
Coordinators:
Prof. dr. Gloria Wekker in collaboration with
Director of InterGender, Prof. Nina Lykke, Linköping University Sweden.
Organization:
The PhD course is organized by InterGender (The Swedish-International ResearchSchool in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies) and NOV (The Netherlands Research School of Women’s Studies, Utrecht).
Course Description:
What is feminist about qualitative research methods? How does one go about interviewing people and which knowledge assumptions are underlying this method? Which choices and decisions does one have to make in embarking on a feminist qualitative research project?
In this InterGender course we will be concerned with qualitative social science research methods, including in-depth interview, focus group and oral history. Importantly, we will pay special attention to the writing up of your data. The course will be strongly driven by intersectional and anti-racist perspectives. In the mornings, we will be dedicated to working through various aspects of and concepts underlying qualitative methods, - methodology, epistemology, ontology. In the afternoons, students will present their own work and will get feedback.
Applications:
Deadline for applications:
March 10
Applications should be sent to InterGender Academic Coordinator Dr. Mette Bryld (mbry@galnet.dk)
Applications should be written in English and include
* name, affiliation, full address, e-mail, phone, fax
* name and affiliation of PhD supervisor
* brief CV
* description of PhD project (1-2 pages)
* motivation: why do you want to participate in the course (1-2 pages)
* please, indicate if you are in the first/middle/last phase of your PhD research
Preparation:
Required:
* app. 1000 pages
* paper (2-5 pages describing research problems related to the PhD project of the participant) to be sent to Academic Coordinator, Mette Bryld (mbry@galnet.dk) after acceptance of application; remember to mark it with your name and the course name.
Optional:
* Those participants, who already have done (an) interview(s), get the chance to present their work on this. This may take the form of a transcription, or, preferably would be a further stage, where you have already come up with (a) theme(s), under which you would like to order the interview. At maximum, the work should be 10 pages and is to be submitted together with the 2-5 page project description, see above, to mbry@galnet.dk
Those participants, who haven’t done an interview yet, may decide to do so before the course and submit it. The same conditions as stated above.
Literature:
(Gloria Wekker)
C. Ramazanoğlu and J. Holland. (2002). Feminist Methodology; Challenges and Choices London: Sage Publications, 195 pp.
Sandoval, Chela. (2000). Methodology of the Oppressed. University of Minnesota Press, 232 pp.
(Fataneh Farahani)
Narayan, K. (2003). ‘How Native Is a “Native” Anthropologist?’. Feminist Postcolonial Theory. A Reader. Eds. R. Lewis and S. Mills. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press. Pp. 263–285.
Shahidian, H. (2001). To Be Recorded in History. Researching Iranian Underground Activities in Exile. Qualitative Sociology. 24/2, 55– 81.
Sultana, F. (2007). Reflexivity, Positionality and Participatory Ethics: Negotiating. Fieldwork Dilemmas in International Research. Journal compilation ACME, An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies, 6/3, 374-385.
Brah, A. (2005). Difference, Diversity, Differentiation. Process of Racialisation and Gender. Theories of Race and Racism. A Reader. Eds. L. Back and J. Solomos. 431–47. London/ New York.
Farahani, Fataneh. (2007). Diasporic Narratives of Sexuality: Identity Formation among Iranian- Swedish Women. 17-60 232-275. Stockholm: Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis (can be ordered from http://acta.bokorder.se/showTitle.aspx?id=867).
Minh-ha, Trinh T. 1997. Not You/ Like You: Post-Colonial Women and the Interlocking Questions of Identity and Difference, In A. McClintock, A. Mufti and E. Shohat (Eds.), Dangerous Liaisons: Gender, Nation, Postcolonial Perspectives. 415- 419.Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Subai Majaj, Lisa. 1994. Boundaries: Arab/ American. In J. Kadi (Ed.) Food for Our Grandmothers: Writing of Arab-American & Arab-Canadian feminists. 65-87. Boston: South End Press.
Three movies:
Rage by Sally Potter
- http://www.sallypotter.com/node/153
- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rage-DVD-US-Steve-Buscemi/dp/B002ITSAH6/ref=sr_1...
Yes by Sally Potter
- http://www.yesthemovie.co.uk/page/index.html
- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yes-DVD-Joan-Allen/dp/B000BW7I3Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=U...
Forbidden Lies by Anna Broinowski
- http://documentaries.about.com/od/revie2/fr/ForbiddenLies.htm
(Rebecca Walker)
Rebecca Walker, ed. And Introduction. One big happy Family: 18 writers talk about Polyamory, Open Adoption, Mixed Marriage, Househusbandry, single Motherhood and other Realities of Truly Modern Love. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009, 250 pp.
Lorde, Audre, (1984). Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Berkely,CA. The Crossing Press, 16pp.
Wekker, Gloria (2006), First part of Chapter 1. The Politics of Passion: Women's Sexual Culture in the Afro-Surinamese Diaspora. Columbia Univ. Press, pp. 1-23.
hooks, bell (2000) Spirituality: Divine Love. All about Love: New Visions. New York: Harper Collins Publ. Inc. pp. 53-68.
Programme:
Arrival in Utrecht April 11, 2010
April 12
9.45-10.00: Registration and welcome
10.00 – 13.00 (incl. discussion):
Gloria Wekker (lecture): “Exploring some Aspects of qualitative feminist Research. Do’s and don’t’s.”
13.00 - 14.00: Lunch
14.00 – 15.00: Groups/workshops
15.00 – 15.15: Coffee break
15.15 – 17.00: Groups/workshops
18.00: Dinner
20.00: Movie (introduction Fataneh Farahani)
April 13
10.00 – 13.00 (incl. discussion):
Fataneh Farahani (lecture): “On Being an Insider and/or an Outsider: A Diasporic Researcher’s Catch-22.”
13.00 - 14.00: Lunch
14.00 – 15.00: Groups/workshops
15.00 – 15.15: Coffee break
15.15 – 17.00: Groups/workshops
18.00: Dinner
April 14
10.00 – 13.00 (incl. discussion):
Rebecca Walker (lecture): “Bringing Creativity to Academic Writing.”
13.00-14.00: Lunch
14.00 –15.00: Groups/workshops
15.00-16.00: Evaluation
16.00: Departure