Our Approach to Workshops
One of our main arguments is that researcher safety is influenced by the researcher’s positionality, the specifics of their project, as well as the local context. Given how diverse positionalities, research projects and local contexts can be, one of our main premises is that we cannot meaningfully hold the same workshop twice – we always adapt them to the interests and needs of the participants.
Our didactical approach integrates input presentations, group and plenary discussions, and independent work on participants’ projects with fictionalized fieldwork trajectories, practical reflection exercises, and empirically grounded simulations. Particularly because the topics we discuss are very serious and can be emotionally challenging, we put a lot of effort into assuring that our teaching methods are multifaceted and contribute to a casual but productive learning atmosphere.
Both of us are certified Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA), and Laura has additional training in advising and counselling people affected by sexualized violence. Our workshops are thus informed by a psychosocial approach which takes personal wellbeing, methodological difficulties, and the context of conducting research from within academic institutions into account.
We offer workshops in online and in-person formats, delivered in German, English, and French – including bilingual options. Our sessions welcome diverse participants, from Bachelor students and doctoral researchers to professors (including mixed groups), as well as fieldworkers from varied disciplinary backgrounds.
If you are interested in inviting us for a workshop on fieldwork safety, or also more generally on safety during longer business trips, travels, or other extended times in a different context, feel free to send us an email via team[at]saferfieldworkproject.de. We are happy to see what we can offer you!
Why invite us?
- Our approach to researcher safety is based on empirical research on the topic, and stands on a firm theoretical foundation, as we have outlined under “Approach.”
- We have extensive experience in conducting fieldwork and living abroad. Among the two of us, we have conducted ethnographic research in Congo, Germany, France, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, and the UK. Additionally, we have lived and worked in Austria, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Ghana, Romania, and Taiwan.
- We are both certified Mental Health First Aiders (MHFA), and Laura has additional training in advising and counselling people affected by sexualized violence.
- We have experience conceptualizing and holding workshops on researcher safety since 2021.
- We have contributed to academic debates on the topic, as you can see under “Contributions.”
A few Examples of Workshop Concepts
To give you a general overview of what our workshops look like, here are some of the workshops we have already held:
- Beyond Tales of Heroism – A Workshop on Safety in Field Research
This two-day workshop is our most extensive format combining input presentations and interactional elements. We introduce tools to reflect about different emotional and physical risks during fieldwork, with the goal of developing individual easy-to-implement risk-mitigation strategies. This workshop also includes a session for the participants to discuss the safety concepts for their own research in peer groups and with the instructors.
- (Un)limited Possibilities – Gendered Safety and Positionality in Fieldwork
This one-and-a-half-day workshop features the key aspects of our two-day format, but focuses specifically on gender as one part of reseachers’ intersectional positionality.
- What Could Possibly Happen? – Fieldwork Safety as Part of the Research Practice
This four-hour workshop focuses on the practical assessment and mitigation of risks before and during fieldwork. Through extensive group work, the participants reflect upon safety aspects in several stages of a fictionalized research project.
- Research at What Cost? – Physical and Emotional Wellbeing during Fieldwork
This two-hour format gives a brief introduction to our main considerations and tools regarding fieldwork safety.
- From Risks to Responsibility – Benefits and Challenges of Integrating Fieldwork Safety in Research Supervision
The workshop for supervisors is a four-hour format in which we provide a space to reflect and exchange about supervisors’ and lecturers’ role in relation to students’ fieldwork safety. We further discuss the benefits and challenges of considering risks and safety before, during, and after fieldwork.