Between
August 18-25, Ramon Inglada, Assistant
Professor in Spanish and Translation Technologies in LINCS, had the priviledge of
carrying out a teaching mobility in Vietnam, at Hanoi University (HANU), under
the framework of the Marco Polo international cooperation programme between
Asian and European universities.
During his stay in Vietnam, Ramon, who is also the LINCS Director of Studies for Incoming Exchange Students, attended several meetings with HANU’s international office staff. The main purpose of these meetings was to analyse and compare how the academic exchange programmes work in both institutions. Ways to further promote international cooperation, not only between Hanoi University and Heriot-Watt University but also in more general terms between European and Asian academic institutions, were also discussed.
Ramon was also offered the possibility of collaborating with the Spanish and English departments at HANU. His activities there included the delivery of several sessions, both in English and Spanish, and in one case in front of an audience of more than 100 students, about professional practices in translation and on translation technologies (mainly computer-assisted translation tools and machine translation). The languages departments at both Hanoi University and Heriot-Watt University have a very strong focus on translation and interpreting, and these sessions were therefore considered to be very relevant for HANU’s cohort of final year language students.
This extremely
valuable teaching mobility experience with an Asian university was very useful
to explore further cooperation opportunities between the two institutions and
also to raise the international profile and standing of Heriot-Watt University.
More information on the Marco Polo project, which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, can be found here: marcopoloproject.eu
After the successful event in 2016, it was time to hold another Intercultural
Research Centre (IRC) Symposium this year, themed “Scotland at a Crossroads – Heritage past and futures”.
This was the IRC’s flagship research event, in which we investigated the
challenges faced by Scotland in the light of recent political events in the
European context, with particular focus on culture, communities and heritage.
The event took place in March 2019 and included presentations by IRC members and guest speakers, a lecture delivered by our keynote speaker Dr. Tuuli Lähdesmäkion cultural heritage in Europe, and a round-table conversation about the implications of Brexit for Scotland. The symposium concluded with a cultural event and performance kindly sponsored by the Confucius Institute, followed by a wine reception.
We started with a multilingual welcome by IRC Director Mairead Nic
Craith and Acting Director Ullrich Kockel. One of our Deaf PhD students, Sanchu Iyer kindly showed the rest of
the audience the BSL signs for ‘Scotland’, ‘heritage’ and ‘Brexit’. The sign
for Scotland definitely had its roots
in bagpipes;
the one for Heritage reminded us of the act of passing something on, and the
one for Brexit gave the impression of a small part breaking out of a larger
whole.
First up was IRC member Dr Gina Netto, whose presentation was focused on ‘Heritage, Migration and Brexit’.
Gina argued that the social, political, economic and cultural landscape of the UK has been profoundly shaped by its heritage of colonialism, its involvement in the slave trade, post-war reconstruction and more recently, by its membership of the EU, all of which have contributed to major migratory flows. Public concerns around levels of immigration have often led politicians to respond with promises to reduce immigration to the ‘hundreds of thousands’ and to ‘take back control’ of its borders. Gina’s presentation considered the central role of race and migration in the events leading up to the 2016 EU referendum, the impacts of the outcome and how the UK may move forward in addressing these heavily contested issues.
Next, IRC member Dr Lina Fadelpresented “I belong, I belong not: Brexit, me, and a ‘Boy Named Sue’”.
In this presentation, Lina addressed
the question: ‘what does Brexit mean for our cultural and national identity and
belonging in Britain?’ Lina explored the portmanteau word ‘Brexit’ and its
cultural and spatial implications more closely, particularly its ‘alienating’
stance for people like herself (a naturalised UK citizen) who have ideals drawn
from multiple cultures and whose Britishness does not come with the historical
and nationalist repertoire that would enable them to identify with ‘the make
Britain great again’ and ‘to have our cake and eat it’ discourses or express their
Britishness in such linear ways. “We are constantly trying to form new
identities in this liminal, in-between (also referred to by post-colonial
theorist Homi Bhabha as ‘third’) space where ideologies and cultures continue
to collide”, Lina argued. Is Brexit itself a ‘third space’ that allows us to
negotiate meaning, representation and identity in a global world? And how can
we reconcile our multi-layered identities and cultures, both heritage and host,
and move forward when Britain has decided to go back to the ‘good old days’?
When asked her how she can belong to Britain as a recently naturalised British
citizen, Lina responded that, through her research, she has talked with many
British-born citizens who don’t feel they belong to or identify with Britain
today. It was a powerful and thought-provoking presentation and argument.
IRC member and Symposium organiser Dr Katerina Straniwas next, and she presented some thoughts on “Multicultural citizenship: Challenges and Opportunities”.
Katerina began by exploring the concept of citizenship as commitment to a specific polity and to a set of rights of obligations, which is why it is also connected to legitimacy (Bauboeck, 2010; Kockel, 2010). Such a commitment implies belonging, both in terms of a personal sense of belonging and in terms of ascribed belonging (from the state). Katerina used her own case as an example of a Greek citizen (she never misses an opportunity to talk about her hometown of Thessaloniki) who is also a Scottish citizen, voting for Scottish Parliament elections and for the Scottish Independence referendum in 2014. This citizenship-belonging nexus (Bauboeck, 2010) means that citizenship can never be culture-blind (Nic Craith, 2004; Habermas, 2005), and indeed the connection between culture and citizenship has been studied by sociologists, cultural studies and politics scholars. The profusion of new publics, diasporic and increasingly diverse, led to a reconsideration of citizenship not only from a multilingual, but also from a multicultural perspective. Kymlicka (2010) widely introduced the concept of multicultural citizenship in multination states, initially focusing on Canada. Kymlicka’s multinational and post-national approaches were discussed in Katerina’s talk, which led to a critical consideration of multiculturalism v. interculturalism v. polyculturalism in contemporary societies, where “culture is more important than ever” (Fukuyama, 2017). The Scottish case of civic citizenship was presented, together with the New Scots strategy, before concluding on the main challenges and opportunities of multicultural citizenship. Challenges include the need to recognise and thematise the liminality of migrant publics as part of culturally enriched hybrid publics (Strani, 2020 forthcoming); how to be more inclusive for those who “do not belong”, e.g. asylum seekers, or those participating in informal networks of “uncivil society” (Ruzza, 2009). The opportunities in societies where citizenship is multilingual and multicultural, and therefore people’s existence is legitimised through their commitment to certain values, include flourishing communities, a redefinition of ‘common interests’ and enrichment of public life.
Dr Emma Hill from the University of Edinburgh presented her research on ‘New’ Scots? (Re)Writing Somali Narratives in Scotland.
Emma’s paper offered a critique of the
narratives of ‘newness’ applied to people of Somali backgrounds living in
contemporary Scotland. Drawing on
research from her PhD
thesis and further archival work, Emma’s paper: (1) traced how
Somali people are discoursed as ‘New Scots’ and (2) argued that Somali
histories in Scotland in fact extend to the twentieth century. Connecting to ongoing discussions about
Scotland’s role in Empire and its mobilisation of race, Emma argued that the
erasure of Somali-Scots’ histories obscure Scotland’s colonial legacy, and
adversely impact Somali-Scots’ experiences of citizenship in Scotland today.
After a short coffee break, it was time for our keynote lecture by Dr Tuuli Lähdesmäki from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The lecture was entitled ’Europe at a Crossroads: Cultural Heritage in the Creation of a European Narrative’
Postmillennial Europe has faced various
political, economic, social and humanitarian challenges and crises that
influence how Europeans deal with the past, present and future of Europe. These
challenges and crises have also shaken the foundations of the EU and
strengthened criticism of its legitimacy and integration processes.
Simultaneously, the ideas of European cultural roots, memory, history and
heritage have gained a new role in European politics and policies. The EU’s
increased interest in the European past and shared cultural heritage can be
perceived as the EU’s attempt to tackle some of these recent challenges and
crises – including identity crises – in Europe. How does the EU utilize the
idea of cultural heritage in the creation of a European narrative? How is the
idea of Europe constructed in the EU’s heritage policies and initiatives? The
lecture discussed these topics by using the most recent EU heritage action, the
European Heritage Label, as a case study.
We were honoured to welcome Dr Lähdesmäki
as our keynote speaker. Her thought-provoking case-study led to lengthy
discussions which went on during lunch.
After lunch, it was time for Dr Jennie Morganfrom the University of Stirling to present her talk, entitled “Grappling with ‘Profusion’: A Crossroad for Assembling Alternative Heritage Futures Through Museum Collecting”
Museums, Jennie argued, as with people in their homes, are increasingly faced with the ‘profusion predicament’. That is, the challenge of grappling not only with large quantities of material things, but seemingly infinite possibilities for choosing what might be acquired and retained for the future. Compounded by shrinking space in which to display and store it all, this leaves some collections staff asking if museums simply have ‘too much stuff’ to reasonably handle? This short provocation, grounded in ethnographic research undertaken in collaboration with University of York colleagues Professor Sharon Macdonald (project director) and Harald Fredheim (researcher), introduced key issues to the Symposium’s ‘crossroads’ discussions, including sustainability, collecting-futures, and heritage values. By briefly looking at what fuels the Profusion predicament, and a range of responses from museums (especially those tasked with collecting from the recent past and contemporary everyday life), Jennie’s fascinating paper prompted us to consider both the specific heritage futures that are shaping yet also being made by museum collecting in Scotland and the wider UK.
The heritage theme continued with IRC member Cait McCullagh, whose presentation was entitled “Weathering the storm: Heritage-making as learning for sustainability in uncertain waters”
Orkney and Shetland, Cait argued, were once central in international flows of people, goods and ideas. Now, their open economies, high youth out-migration, and ecosystems abraded by climate change indicate a precarity only further compounded by Brexit. Cait’s research explored Northern Isles inhabitants’ concepts of aspects of their heritages as ‘ecosystems of memory’, sustaining situated, resilient responsiveness in the face of such extrinsic uncertainties. The praxis, based on a co-curation mobilising ‘deliberative value formation’, elicits social learning concerning the usefulness of collaboratively, consciously deliberating heritage-making, identity-work and future assembling for learning about the formation of behaviours and decision-making in other socio-political processes. Cait also asked ‘what part does/can/should this sentimentality play within current value judgements?’
Moving on to ‘dark’ heritage and in particular Intangible Cultural Heritage, Prof Alison McCleery from Edinburgh Napier University gave a bold and thought-provoking talk on “Throwing light on a ‘dark’ side of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and its responsible management”
The concept of ‘dark tourism’ is these days increasingly well known, Prof McCleery stated. Less so the notion of dark ICH, with general perceptions of ICH reflecting a particular range of quaint, wholesome and apparently benign folk traditions, often rooted in rural communities. These largely reflect the domains of the UNESCO Convention on the ICH (2003) and are expected to be accessible to the general public, and increasingly also open to the tourist gaze. However, a range of living cultural traditions lies outside this consensual ideal implicit in both the UNESCO framework and its implementation by national and local agencies. Although not signed up to the Convention, and arguably just because of that, Scotland is not exempt from the increasingly challenging but nevertheless imperative responsibility of ‘policing’ its ICH. Prof McCleery’s presentation explored the complex challenges, for both agencies and academics as well as for ICH practitioners and for society at large, of managing often conflicting expectations in respect of examples drawn from this range of ‘controversial’ ICH in Scotland and beyond. The chair had to stop us from discussing Prof McCleery’s presentation because we were pressed for time, but the conversation on this fascinating topic went on during the coffee break.
David explored a paradox of the heritage discourse – that, on the one hand, the designation of an aspect of nature or culture as ‘heritage’ is a form of ‘enclosure, commodification and colonisation’ (Weber 2015), and, on the other, a means by which access is enlarged. Since the folk revival of the second half of the twentieth century greater access to traditional music in Scotland has seen it become a creative resource and a source of meaning for many, but also a point of tension, in terms of uses of heritage, between those whose main interest is in preservation and authenticity and those whose main interest is its possibilities for personal artistic statement. David also paid tribute to Jimmy McBeath, when reflecting on the conflict between authenticity and cultural appropriation. We listened to a short song by Jimmy McBeath during David’s presentation.
Next up, IRC member Marc Romanopresented a paper entitled “Scottish national identity in an era of change, the power of movies and TV shows”
Following the Brexit referendum, the question of national identity and belonging was raised and challenged particularly in Scotland where their origins are strongly aligned with Europe. Marc’s paper explored the redefinition of contemporary Scottish identity through the use of movies and TV shows, using the newest film version of Mary Queen of Scots and Outlander as interesting case studies.
Last, but definitely not least, IRC
member Alastair Mackiepresented his research on “Becoming a smaller part of a larger
whole: new expressions of European identity in the Scottish independence
movement”
The EU referendum and the ensuing negotiations on Brexit have resulted in Britain entering a liminal phase of change without a foreseeable ending, Alastair argued. Within this transformational context, European identity is being understood in new ways and with new meanings. For some it is a defiant expression of connection: a root and a route to the rest of Europe; for others it is also an expression of disconnection between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom and is incorporated into the support for Scottish independence. Alastair’s presentation explored results of an ongoing PhD research project on the perception of European identity in post-Brexit Scotland with a particular focus on the relation between European identity and small state vulnerability.
After a short break, it was time for our round table discussion on The Impact of
Brexit in Scotland. The Moderator was Mrs Ann Packard FRSA
HonFRIAS, Chairman, RSA Fellows (i) Borders and (ii) Media, Creative
Industries, Culture & Heritage Networks.
Members of the panel were:
Luke Devlin (Heriot-Watt University)
Anthony Salamone (Scottish Centre of European Relations)
Dr Mairi McFadyen (Local Voices and the Scottish Centre for
Geopoetics)
Prof Ullrich Kockel (Heriot-Watt University)
Dr Cristina Clopot (Heriot-Watt University – University of
Hull)
Svenja Meyerricks (Centre for Human Ecology)
The round table discussion brought useful insights from a range of disciplines interested in heritage, Scotland and Brexit. There was talk of liminality, uncertainty and loss at all levels. A dynamic redefinition of identity was also explored in the context of vulnerability and division.
After a long day of thought and discussion, it was time for our cultural event, kindly sponsored by the Heriot-Watt Confucius Institute. The event included:
A Chinese zither performance
A traditional tea ceremony
Chinese calligraphy
Chinese paper-cutting
Our talented Confucius Institute colleagues gave our keynote speaker Dr Tuuli Lähdesmäki a paper-cut portrait to take home with her as a gift.
We tweeted throughout the event using
the hashtag #IRC2019 – however we soon noticed that we shared this with the
equally successful International
Rubber Conference Organisation that was taking place on the same day J
In this blogpost,
Jemina Napier and Audrey Cameron provide an update on the work that has been
done on the DESIGNS project (promoting access in employment for
deaf sign language users in Europe) since our last blog/vlog in October
2018.
The project is coming to an end on 30 June and most of the work in the past 6 months has been focusing on developing training materials, running pilot workshops for employers, sign language interpreters and deaf people and disseminating the project data:
Training – workshops
2018.11.08 Employers’
workshop in partnership with Vercida in South Bank University
2018.12.07 Sign
language interpreters’ workshop in Antwerp, Belgium – DESIGNS team
2019.03.05 Masterclass
workshop for deaf people, sign language interpreters and employers – in
partnership with Deaf Action and Deaf2Work in Deaf Action, Edinburgh
2019.04.09 Employment of sign language users in Europe
– Policy & Practice Implications at European Parliament – hosted by Helga Stevens –
to present project research findings – Adam Kosa MEP and the Directorate-General for Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion (developing EU strategy for employment for
disabled people).
Up to the end of June, we are continuing to finalise the training materials
and filming case studies for the DESIGNS project website. The next
update is due in June where we will introduce the finalised material.
Below is an English
translation of the update that is presented in BSL.
Hello! (both)
Jemina: We’re
here to give you an update on the DESIGNS Project, which is to do with deaf
employment and interpreting. The last project update was November last year, so
we thought it was high time we let you know what we’ve been doing over the last
6 months.
Audrey: … yes, we’ve got a lot to
tell you.
Jemina: We’ve got a number of things to cover so we’ll alternate between us. So, the first thing to say is that we’ve been out there delivering a lot of training sessions – sorry I need to refer to my notes here to remind me of everything we’ve done….. Audrey and I went down to London to run a training session for employers in partnership with an organisation called Vercida, who encourages employers of large organisations to recruit disabled people and embrace diversity; when larger organisations are looking for advice about how develop a more diverse workforce, Vercida are the people they go which also makes them a perfect fit for fits perfectly this project. Vercida helped us find three employers but we were hoping to have more but really this session was more of a pilot.
As part of the DESIGNS Project, we interviewed
employers, deaf sign language users and interpreters and we shared our research
findings with those employers so that if they were looking to recruit deaf people
they would have an idea of what it’s like and we could see that they found that
really useful. From the evaluation at the end there were clearly things they
hadn’t known about deaf people and interpreters, so they definitely found the
session helpful.
We used that session to help us to develop another
Master Class that we delivered here in Edinburgh in partnership with Deaf
Action, which is a local deaf community organisation based in Edinburgh. We
developed and ran this in conjunction with their employment service and
interpreting service and some other people from here at Heriot Watt…
Audrey: … and from Deaf2Work…
Jemina: … yes Tony Barlow, who is a deaf employment consultant has a company called Deaf2Work so we all worked in conjunction with one another deliver this Master Class. What was really interesting was that we had a group of employers (some of whom had experience of working with deaf people and some who didn’t); a group of interpreters and a group of deaf people. We started the day together and then spit into our respective groups and we tailored the content accordingly. Then we all came back together to watch a role play of an interview involving an interpreter, a deaf person and an employer and that was fascinating and generated a lot of valuable discussion.
… Audrey and I were also involved in delivering a training workshop with the rest of the consortium over in Antwerp for a group of about 40 sign language interpreters from all over Europe (both deaf and hearing) with some having travelled some considerable distance to get there. We presented a lot of the findings from the DESIGNS Project plus again using roleplays, we gave to them an idea what it’s like interpreting for job interviews. That was really interesting and a good experience…
Audrey: … a lot of them wanted to
know how to work with deaf people at job interviews which was clearly a worry
for them and I think the training was really useful in that respect.
Jemina: So altogether that’s 4 training events we’ve delivered and even more recently Audrey went to the EDSU The European Deaf Students conference in Prague…
Audrey: … yes…
Jemina … and ran a workshop on
the DESIGNS Project at which she talked about deaf employment, creating a CV
and the barriers deaf people face around employment. This was for students all
of whom are currently studying at University level and starting to think about
their career path… that was a two hour workshop…
Audrey: … two and a half hours
Jemina: … so another two and a
half hours linked to the DESIGNS Project which is good. That’s those 4
different training workshops covered. Ok, now I’ll hand over to you Audrey…
Audrey: Jemina and I have not just been focusing on
training; we’ve also been out there disseminating the data and the findings
from the DESIGNS Project. Since November we’ve attended a number of events. The
first was in York at St John’s University, which was organised by Dai O’Brien
who’s been doing research on what employment for deaf people is like in Higher
Education. I, along with Mette Sommer (who is a PhD student here at Heriot
Watt) and Nicola Nunn for UCLAN also gave presentations and incorporated our experiences
of working in that environment with interpreters. That was a good conference
and there were a lot of people there…
Jemina:… and lots of questions and a great deal of interest in the project.
Audrey: Jemina and I have not just been focusing on
training; we’ve also been out there disseminating the data and the findings
from the DESIGNS Project. Since November we’ve attended a number of events. The
first was in York at St John’s University, which was organised by Dai O’Brien
who’s been doing research on what employment for deaf people is like in Higher
Education. I, along with Mette Sommer (who is a PhD student here at Heriot
Watt) and Nicola Nunn for UCLAN also gave presentations and incorporated our experiences
of working in that environment with interpreters. That was a good conference
and there were a lot of people there…
Jemina:… and lots of questions and a great deal of interest in the project.
Audrey: … they were very
keen to have the training pack that will help people get into work and that’s
one of the aims for the project …
The second dissemination event was back in March
where we’d been invited to present at one of the ‘EdSign’ series of lectures at the University of Edinburgh
which are run by four universities – Queen Margaret University, Heriot Watt and
Edinburgh… that’s only three isn’t it Jemina?! … sorry it’s three not four! So
as I said they invite different speakers to come along and we presented for a
couple of hours… or was it an hour?
Jemina: … about an hour…
Audrey: … for a hour and that went well. It was also live streamed; we’ll put the link up so you can watch our presentation if you’re interested.
… and thirdly we were recently at the European
Parliament – Helga Stevens who is deaf and an MEP hosted an event at which she
invited us to share the our findings from the DESIGNS Project. We were able to
present these to MEPs and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social
Affairs and Inclusion came along to listen and I think he soon realised the
need to deliver better access to employment and that was good… that was in
April.
Jemina: Really that was the last
‘official’ event of the DESIGNS Project because now we’re starting the process
of bringing things to a close and finishing off.
We held the last project meeting the day before the
event at the European Parliament. All the other project partners gathered
together to work out what we still had left to do and to make sure we tidied up
any loose ends and then the next day we were at the parliament.
Audrey: But we’re not finished
just yet. The report still has to be written and we are filming
case studies with employers, deaf people and interpreters for the website and what else…? And then working on the training pack which will also be put up on the website. Then, when absolutely everything is done we’re going to have another Facebook livestream where we’ll be showing you what resources we’ve got and that will be soon – when do you think that will be Jemina?
Jemina: … probably later in the
year. Here at Heriot Watt, the project officially ends at the of June; after
that we’ll have a few things to tidy up and unfortunately that’ll mean Audrey
and I will no longer be working with one another on the project… but who knows
maybe we’ll get to work again on something in the future… we’ll see…
Audrey: But this project has been
so worthwhile doing…
Jemina: There will also be more
information coming out in BSL – for example, there will be a BSL version of the
summary of the research report and summaries of some of the training materials
Audrey mentioned so we’ll be back with more information about those another
time.
InterTrainE
includes 7 partners from 4 countries (UK, Finland, Italy and Greece) and aims
to develop an intercultural training programme for educators teaching adult
migrants.
Specifically, the project develops a modularised training
curriculum with qualification standards specialised for Adult Education. It
will also produce a handbook for trainers including a theoretical framework of
basic concepts, learning outcomes and the training package itself which will
include practical exercises and, where possible, case studies. All the training
materials will be uploaded to a MOOC.
Multiplier Events will take place in each country in 2020
(watch this space for details!).
A Joint Staff Training Event will take place in Rethymnon,
Crete, in March/April 2020, where the partners will test the
curriculum and training materials before these are finalised and presented at
the Final
Dissemination Conference in Edinburgh
in September 2020.
the recommendations from Outputs
1 and 2 (Needs analysis on Intercultural Training for
Educators of Adult Migrants). More than 250 educators and
learners took part in the research for these outputs, which aimed to identify
existing needs on intercultural training for educators of adult migrants in the
partner countries.
the external evaluator’s feedback. The external
evaluator for the project, Dr
Jim Crowther, Senior
Lecturer in Community Education, University of Edinburgh,
participated in the meeting, gave extensive feedback on Outputs 1 and 2 and
recommendations for the next stages.
curriculum development and the design for Output
3
For information on O1 and O2, please see our previous
newsletter as well as our website,
where you will be able to download the relevant reports.
We have agreed on a curriculum structure for Intellectual Output 3 (O3). The curriculum for our Intercultural Training course will be designed in a modularised form and translated into the partners’ languages (Finnish, Italian and Greek) by July 2019, after which the relevant O3 report will be published on our website.
Course materials
Each partner will develop course materials which will be
adapted according to local needs (see recommendations
in national reports for O1 and O2). These course materials
will constitute Output 4 and they will be online
in the form of a Moodle by April 2020.
In the meantime, Multiplier Events will be
organised in each country (UK, Italy, Greece, Finland) to test the material
before they are live on the project platform / Moodle.
March/April 2020 will also see the project’s Joint Staff Training Event will take place in Rethymnon, Crete.
Project website and social media accounts
Our project
website includes information and updates on our project, as
well as all Intellectual Outputs to date. The website is available in all
partner languages – English,
Greek,
Italian
and Finnish.
Updates are published regularly on social media. To make sure
you don’t miss out:
The conference had a very welcoming atmosphere, despite the sheer size of it. Although I have only been working on my research for just over a year, there were several familiar faces present and I quickly felt at home. Amongst those attending there was a large delegation from Scotland, not only from the IRC but also many from the Elphinstone Institute in Aberdeen. For it really being a small country, it always surprises me how many ethnologists there are in Scotland. Discussing our work with peers from nearby and far away is always rewarding. For me, these are the most valuable experiences of such a conference, more so than the presentations I attend.
The IRC had a very strong presence in SIEF 2019, as was the case in past conferences. We presented a large variety of research using different methods.Chiara Cocco presented a paper on “Pilgrimage as a means of memory of dark heritage: the case study of Misija Sibiras in Lithuania”. This paper focuses on the expeditions to Siberia organized by the Lithuanian organization Misija Sibiras (Mission Siberia). Chiara interprets these journeys as secular pilgrimages through which young Lithuanians commemorate their past and deal with the painful heritage of their country.
Cait McCullagh presented a
paper on “Tracking futures at 60 Degrees North – co-curation
across Orkney and Shetland: collaboratively deliberating praxis, value
formation and learning for sustainable development”. Based on
ethnography and practice-based research in Scotland’s Northern Isles, this
paper considers a performative praxis of co-curating maritime heritage-making
as future assembling, deliberative value formation, elicitive of social
learning for sustainable development in vulnerable environments.
Naomi
Harvey presented a paper on “The
Scotland’s sounds’ network: exploring the participatory role of soundarchives in continuing traditions.” The paper discussed the ‘Scotland’s Sounds’ network of sound
collections, exploring how this ‘distributed archive’ model functions through
participatory work across the sound archive sector, and looking at how
increasing access to archives has an impact on the practice of cultural
traditions.
Kerstin
Pfeiffer chaired and co-convened the panel “Through
the lens of affect and emotion: exploring the potentials [SIEF Working Group on
Body, Affects, Senses and Emotions (BASE)]” with Jonas Frykman from Lund
University. This was the most popular panel of the conference, with 30+
abstracts submitted, and spin-off panels created as a result.
“Ethnologists and folklorists employ a
range of perspectives when probing different aspects of socio-cultural
phenomena related to the body, affects, senses and emotions. Rather than
constituting a field in its own right, their research engages with and enriches
established research areas. This panel continues to explore the creative
potential the perspective has brought to research areas discussed at previous
BASE working group meetings, like migration, sports, material culture,
religious practices, theatrical performances, music, dwelling and so on. What
are the most rewarding outcomes? In how far are they innovative in the context
of a particular research field? How do they fill the gaps in the existent
understandings of particular phenomena, notably those engaging body and senses?
Which difficulties do resarchers encounter when trying to apply this lens to
the existent ethnographic and folkloristic data? In what way does it change the
ways we engage in ethnographic work and does it allow for establishment of
novel fieldwork-based epistemologies? We welcome proposals for papers that deal
with historical and contemporary materials, old and and new topics, original
fieldwork or archived material, However, by clearly addressing the questions
noted above, the papers should focus on exploring the creative potential – as
well as the challenges – presented by the lens of affect and emotion. “
Session
1
Paradise
lost: inheriting the summerhouse. Jonas Frykman (Lund University).
Emotion
and its role in ethnicity creation within Konkani community, Kochi, India. Alina
Kaczmarek-Subramanian (The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology PAS).
Doing the
festival. Making the city and region into sensual places. Connie
Reksten (Western Norway University).
Understanding
affective strategies and counterstrategies: examining political emotions as
cultural practices. Monique Scheer (University of
Tuebingen).
Navigating
the ocean of suspicion: affective politics and materiality in Cairo. Cairo.
Maria Frederika Malmström (Lund University / Columbia University).
Session 2
Affective
integration: conceptual and empirical contributions of the lens of affect to
migration research. Maja Povrzanovic Frykman (Malmö University).
Affective practices of
unemployment. Tytti Steel (University of Helsinki).
Body in traditional costume – new approach to
traditional costume research. Maria Gacic (Museum of Dakovo Region).
Sensual engagement in sports: researcher’s and actants’ emotional involvement and the productive use of emotions in and of the field. Yonca Krahn (Universität Zürich).
Marc Romano presented a paper on “Digital Media, a tool to redefine a contemporary Scottish Identity”. Following the Brexit referendum, the question of national identity and belonging wa raised and challenged particularly in Scotland where their origins are strongly aligned with Europe. This paper explores the redefinition of contemporary Scottish identity through the use of digital media.
I presented a poster on “New meanings of European identity in Scotland”. The poster presents results of my ongoing PhD research project on the perception of European identity in post-Brexit Scotland with a particular focus on the relation between European identity and small state vulnerability.
This was my first poster, a medium I was
unsure off at first but came to appreciate more when it started to function as
a billboard for my research, present throughout the conference. For two of my
fellow doctoral students, Chiara Cocco and Marc Romano, it was their first time
presenting at an international conference. All presentations were very well
received and followed by useful discussions with an interdisciplinary audience.
I also attended some excellent
presentations. The closing event started with a fascinating keynote by
professor Barbara
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett on the POLIN Museum of the history of Polish
Jews, of which she is the Chief Curator. This was followed by a roundtable
entitled ‘Listening to objects’, in which three established academics, Regina
Bendix, Dorothy Noyes and Sharon Roseman, presented an object (for example a
strand of hair or a pot) which seemed bland at first, but about which each of
them had a fascinating and often hilarious story to tell. The keynote lecture
by Professor Tim Ingold, entitled
‘Strike-through and wipe-out: tactics for overwriting past’ provided much food
for thought.
During the opening of the conference we
were encouraged to take part in at least one panel which did not relate to our research,
just for fun and to expand our horizons. For me, this was a panel on cuteness: a concept
I hadn’t really considered before (apart from the occasional cat video) but
which was fascinating. In particular, the presentation by Professor Irene
Stengs from the Meertens Institute on the King of Thailand’s cute cartoons was thought-provoking.
Beside the interesting panels and discussion, we also find time to explore Santiago de Compostela and to experience the local cuisine. I was a particular fan of pulpo (octopus), a local delicacy which somehow also became our team mascot.
You can check out #SIEF2019
on Twitter for more details, and in particular #team_hwu_irc
** Our colleague Katerina Strani found pulpo on the window of high-street shop Anthropologie on George Street in Edinburgh. Clearly it is not only us who think an octopus is the perfect mascot for our discipline!
As part of this long-standing cooperation, S1 to S4 pupils visit campus several times a year and get a chance to consolidate their French and Spanish, but also to broaden their knowledge and understanding of languages and cultures.
This scheme was initially set up as a
collaborative project to work towards the implementation of the government’s
1+2 policy, and it’s one of the many innovative ways in which LINCS engages
with local communities in order to inspire young generations of learners. The
project was initiated by Mr Meikle, one of LINCS’s graduates, who is now Depute
Rector at Larbert High, and it has been
beneficial to both institutions: young learners with a taste for languages get
a chance to further their skills by working with native speakers and talented
university students, while discovering our campus, and Heriot-Watt students and
Erasmus students and interns get a chance to share their culture and passion
for languages, whilst gaining some valuable teaching experience. This
collaboration has benefited our graduates and students further, as Larbert High
has welcomed some of them as volunteers for some shadowing and classroom
experience, like Mrs More. She has been accompanying the groups to her alma
mater and this experience enriched her CV; she’s since secured a place on a teacher
training postgraduate programme of studies.
So what do pupils do when they visit LINCS?
They engage in a range of activities geared
both towards practice, with applied classes in French and Spanish related to
their curriculum, but since LINCS is a also very global department, with
expertise in multilingualism and multiculturalism, we use the in-house
expertise to broaden these young linguists’ horizons.
For instance, during their latest visit, S2 and
S3 pupils got an insight into British Sign Language learning, thanks to two of
our Honours students from the BSL degree in Interpreting, Translation and Applied
Languages Studies. Lou and Louise explained how they came to study this
language, how the learning experience is designed and the skills they developed
along the way, and pupils’ curiosity was clearly peeked: they asked questions
about the language, but also about the deaf community and culture.
Thanks to our Erasmus + intern from Mons University,
Nathanaël Stilmant, these two groups also discovered another French-speaking
country, Belgium. As part of this session, very much focused on the
multilingual nature of this country, pupils also had a chance to learn some
Dutch and Walloon.
S4 pupils, who are already thinking of exams, worked
on their Spanish with two of our Honours students: Simon and Rachel devised
activities around their curriculum, but also shared anecdotes about their
experience as students at Heriot-Watt and as Erasmus students abroad, since the
M.A. includes two semesters of study in one of our partner institutions on the
continent or beyond. This helped young learners consider the importance of a
global profile, at a stage when they are making important study choices and are
starting to think about higher education.
As for S1 pupils, after a French session with
one of our enthusiastic 2nd year, Samuel, they went on an adventure
on campus: armed with audio clues in French, they explored the grounds, collecting
information along the way, in a bid to crack a code to work out the secret
message they had been given. This cross-disciplinary and fun approach gave them
a glimpse into the daily life of students as they went from one place to the
next, and this discovery experience is also part of a joint bid to make young
pupils think about university studies from an early age. It was also a chance
for them to realise that languages and STEM subjects often complement each
other well: code-breaking has historically been done by linguists as much as
scientists; for instance, many of the talented code-breakers who worked in
Bletchley Park during World War II were linguists, and worked alongside
mathematicians to crack and decipher codes used by enemies to communicate.
But more exciting opportunities lay in store:
for their next visits, pupils will get a chance to visit the Confucius
Institute for Business and to learn some Esperanto, to name but a few of the
activities LINCS has in store for them.
InterTrainE includes 7 partners from 4 countries (UK, Finland, Italy and Greece) and
aims to develop an intercultural training programme for educators teaching adult
migrants.
Specifically, the project will develop a modularised training curriculum with
qualification standards specialised for Adult Education. It will also produce a handbook
for trainers including a theoretical framework of basic concepts, learning outcomes and
the training package itself which will include practical exercises and, where possible,
case studies. All the training materials will be uploaded to a MOOC.
A Joint Staff Training Event will take place in Rethymnon, Crete, in March 2020, where the partners will test the curriculum and training materials before these are finalised and presented at the Final Dissemination Conference in Edinburgh in September 2020.
Partners met at Heriot-Watt University‘s Riccarton campus and discussed the project’s timeline, milestones and deadlines. They agreed on the project logo and on the design of the website. Each partner gave an overview of the Intellectual Output that they would be leading. The project evaluation procedures were also finalised, and the procedure of appointing an external evaluator was agreed upon. The external evaluator for the project will be Dr Jim Crowther, Senior Lecturer in Community Education, University of Edinburgh. The full agenda of the meeting can be found here.
Progress and 1st Intellectual Output (IO1)
The first two Intellectual Outputs (IO1 and IO2) constitute a needs analysis. For IO1,
Online questionnaires on educators’ and learners’ experiences and views on
intercultural education in each country were designed and distributed. A database of
stakeholders in every partner country was created for this purpose as well as for
general dissemination purposes. The questionnaire data was collected, analysed and
evaluated by each partner. National reports were drafted accordingly, and a project
report was completed by CLP, who led this output, in December 2018.
The project report for IO1, which includes the questionnaire templates and findings from all countries participating in the project, can be found here.
2nd Intellectual Output (IO2)
The second phase of the needs analysis, which started in January 2019, includes:
background research for existing programmes on intercultural training for educators,
aiming to point out the needs for update or the development of new material
semi-structured interviews of experts and educators in adult education in each
partner country. Interviews are currently under way and the findings will be
compared to existing data on qualifications and competences available.
National reports will be drafted, and the leading partner for this IO, Il Sicomoro, will
compile the project report for IO2.
This is estimated to be ready in March – watch this space!
LINCS is not only about languages; it
stands for Languages and INterCultural Studies
and our core
purpose is to create multilingual,
multicultural, global citizens. To achieve this, the “INCS” in LINCS specialises in (inter)cultural studies such as
living cultural heritage, language policy and intercultural communication.
Our Cultural Studies section
manages the cultural studies courses and programmes we deliver. Courses include
Global Heritage, Cross-Cultural perspectives on Society, Intercultural
perspectives on Sustainable Development, as well as the Global Courses (taught in all HWU campuses)
Intercultural Issues in Business and Management (Undergraduate), and Intercultural
Communication in the Workplace (Postgraduate). It also manages our MSc Cultural
Heritages programme family, which includes our MSc
in Tourism and Heritage Management. Cultural Studies staff and
students are also members of our Intercultural Research Centre (IRC).
People
Staff
Katerina
Strani is the Head of the Cultural Studies section. She has a
background in Languages and Political Theory and her PhD thesis (2011) focused
on communicative rationality in the public sphere. Her research is
interdisciplinary and she is interested in how multilingualism and
multiculturalism shape contemporary society and
politics at all levels. Following an EU-funded project on hate speech and
racism (RADAR), Katerina has developed a keen research interest in the
concept of race, particularly race relations and the language of race. She
teaches International Politics, Society and Institutions in Contemporary
Europe, Intercultural Issues in Business and Management and Conference
Interpreting. For a list of publications, please click here; for a list of funded projects, please click here.
Katerina is a Member of the
Political Studies Association, the International Communications Association,
the University Association of Contemporary European Studies and the Chartered
Institute of Linguists. A.Strani@hw.ac.uk Twitter:
@KaterinaStrani
Máiréad
Nic Craith is Professor of European Culture and Heritage and she
previously held a Chair in the School of Social Sciences and Applied Social
Studies at the University of Ulster, as well as honorary professorships in
other institutions in the UK and abroad. She has received many accolades for
her publications, including the Ruth Michaelis-Jena Ratcliff research prize for
folklife (joint winner), which was awarded at the University of Edinburgh in
2004. In 2009 she was elected to the Royal Irish Academy. Máiréad has served on
numerous research evaluation panels in Europe, Canada and Australia. In 2011,
she was invited by the United Nations as an expert on access to heritage as a
human right. In 2013, she was invited by the European Centre on Minority Issues
as an expert on (linguistic) minorities.
Máiréad’s research focuses
on different aspects of living heritage including literary heritage (from the
Great Blasket Island), intercultural heritage (Cork), World Heritage sites
(Skellig Michael), heritage and conflict (Northern Ireland) and heritage and
law in a European context. For a complete
list of Máiréad’s publications, please click here.
M.NicCraith@hw.ac.uk
Twitter: @mairead_nc
Ullrich Kockel
is Professor of Cultural Ecology and Sustainability at HWU, as well as Emeritus
Professor of Ethnology at the University of Ulster and Visiting Professor in
Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas. He has a diverse academic and professional background,
switching from a career in industrial management (Shell) to academic positions
in Economics, Political Science, Sociology, and later Irish Studies and
Ethnology. In 2003 he was elected to the Academy of Social Sciences and in 2012
he was elected to the Royal Irish Academy.
Ullrich’s overarching research
interest is in sustainable local and regional development, especially the
appraisal, planning and management of heritage and other cultural resources,
approached from an interdisciplinary perspective rooted in anthropology,
cultural ecology and political economy. He has conducted fieldwork and led
projects throughout Europe. He is currently leading a work package in a €2.5m
Horizon2020 project, CoHERE, on cultural forms
and expressions of identity in Europe. For a complete list of Ullrich’s
publications, please click here. U.Kockel@hw.ac.uk Twitter: @KockelU
Kerstin
Pfeiffer is the Director of Undergraduate Teaching Programmes in
LINCS and is a member of several committees at School and University level. She
also represents the School of Social Sciences on Subject Panel B (Design,
Visual Arts, Architecture, Creative Writing, Film, Drama & Theatre
Studies, Cultural Policy (Policy, Arts Management & Creative Industries),
Music, Television Studies) of the Scottish Graduate School for the Arts and
Humanities. She teaches courses in German language, history and
culture at UG and PG level.
Kerstin’s research interests lie
in the area of theatre and performance studies and particularly in the
investigation of the afterlives of older dramatic forms and the role of drama
in shaping, maintaining and challenging notions of identity and community. She
has published on these topics and presented her research at many international
conferences.
For a list of Kerstin’s
publications, please click here.
K.Pfeiffer@hw.ac.uk
Twitter: @DrKPfeiffer
Cristina Clopotis Research Associate at the IRC, contributing to the Horizon2020 project, CoHERE: Critical Heritages: Performing and Representing Identities in Europe. Cristina’s work explores the intersection of heritage studies, folklore and anthropology, with a particular interest for themes such as: intangible heritage, festivals, tradition, rituals, ethnic and religious heritage. In 2014, she received the Estella Cranziani Post-Graduate Bursary for Research. Cristina is a member of the board and newsletter coordinator of the Intangible Cultural Heritage network of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies and a founding member of its new Early Career Researchers’ network. She also acts as Associate Editor (Social Media) for the Anthropological Journal of European Cultures. For a list of Cristina’s publications, please click here. C.Clopot@hw.ac.uk Twitter: @cris_clopot
Claudia V.
Angelelli is Professor and Chair in Multilingualism and
Communication. She is also Professor Emerita at San Diego State
University and Visiting Professor at Beijing University of Foreign Studies. Her
research sits at the intersection of sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and
translation and interpreting studies. She designed the first empirically-driven
language proficiency and interpreter readiness tests for The California
Endowment and Hablamos Juntos (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). She has been PI
in research projects in Argentina, Australia, the European Union, and the
United States. She has also led ISO 13611: Standards on Community
Interpreting and co-authored The California Standards for Health Care
Interpreters. Ethical Principles, Protocols, and Guidance on Interpreter Roles
and Interventions. She teaches Intercultural Communication in the Workplace and
Translation and Interpreting Studies. For a full list of publications, please
click here.
C.Angelelli@hw.ac.uk
John Clearyis Associate Professor and Director of
Studies for Exchange Programmes. With a background in Applied Linguistics,
English and TESOL, John teaches British Culture & Society, Film Studies,
Introduction to Languages and Intercultural Studies, and Society and
Institutions in Contemporary Europe. He has coordinated many projects on
internationalisation, pedagogy and intercultural communication in Europe,
Turkmenistan and South-East Asia. For a list of John’s publications, please
click here. J.A.Cleary@hw.ac.uk
Thesis topic: Festivals and folklore through the lens of
affect and emotions: the case study of Sant’Efisio in Sardinia, supervised
by Máiréad
Nic Craithand Kerstin
Pfeiffer
Chiara’s research explores the
relationship between cultural heritage performance and collective identity
construction. Drawing upon previous studies and theories which analysed
national and cultural identity construction in sites of heritage and memory
(Knudsen, 2011; Arnold-de Simine, 2013; Wight, 2016), in this research the
focus shifts from museums to ceremonies. The thesis suggests that dynamic
heritage avenues, such as folklore and festivals, could be also considered
“places” of identity construction. It also explores the dynamics of identity
construction and representation in festivals, through the lens of emotion and
affect (Smith, 2006). For this purpose,
the research adopts the Festival of Sant’Efisio in Sardinia as its case study,
mainly because of its popularity among Sardinian population and visitors, and
its longevity (it has been celebrated in the island every year since 1656).
Moreover, as a Sardinian woman who has been living in Scotland for over five
years, Chiara considers this festival as part of her cultural heritage and
Sardinian belonging. Her research is, therefore, also a means through which she
can keep connected to her original home despite the physical distance. Twitter:
@ChiaraCocco88
Jos’s research project results
from a partnership between the IRC, Celtic and Scottish Studies (University of
Edinburgh) and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS, Scottish
Storytelling Centre). It examines the reasons behind the resurgence of interest
in this old art form and folk custom and its cultural implications. It seeks to
investigate the motivations for participants and what these can tell us about
modern attitudes to concepts like tradition and authenticity. The main aim of
the project is to explore the place of revived folk drama in contemporary
Scottish society through the following objectives: to produce a survey of
Scottish folk drama activities today; to examine community-led performances and
related activities ethnographically; to evaluate the motivations and
aspirations of participants and organisers and to assess their contribution to
aspects of local identity, ideas of tradition, and community dynamics; to
investigate how folk drama as a living practice contributes to developing
conceptualisations of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland; and to
contribute to the newly emerging ‘Creative Ethnology’ movement led by the three
institutions involved.
Thesis topic: Collecting and preserving access to
Intangible Cultural Heritage within the digital environment: Evaluating New
Models for Scotland, supervised byMáiréad
Nic Craith and Ullrich Kockel.
Co-supervision from heritage specialists is provided by Alistair Bell, Sound
Curator, National Library of Scotland and Scotland’s Sounds Project Manager,
and Dr Hugh Hagan, National Records of Scotland, whose expertise includes oral
history and community heritage.
This research is funded by the
AHRC through the Scottish Cultural Heritage Consortium Scholarship, 2016-19. It
critically examines issues surrounding digital preservation and access to ICH
in Scotland, through the case study of Scotland’s Sounds. The project will
examine how Scotland’s Sounds can ensure the sustainability of ICH sound
collections, encompassing issues of: (1) collecting sound in a digital
environment (2) digital access and preservation of sound material; (3)
sustainable relationships between creators, community organisations and public
institutions. The aim is to provide a theoretically informed critical analysis
of the opportunities and challenges that advances in digital technology present
for heritage organisations seeking to enhance the value, profile and
understanding of ICH. Twitter: @ArchiveGnome
Thesis topic: ‘Becoming a smaller part of a larger whole:
changing perceptions of European identity in the Scottish independence
movement’, supervised by Katerina
Strani and Ullrich Kockel.
This thesis explores how the
perception and understanding of European identity has changed in Scotland since
2014. Is the adaptation of European identity for the purposes of supporting
independence merely a poltiical, strategic use of collective identity, or has
the debate on EU membership resulted in a wider transformation of the role of
Europe in identity formation in Scotland? By means of ethnographic fieldwork,
this project aims form a better understanding of the function of Europe within
the identity formation of people in Scotland since the Brexit referendum. The thesis
aims to link the ethnological study of European identity to concepts of
vulnerability and shelter from small state studies. If Scotland were to become
an independent state it would be considered a small state in Europe. Due to
their size, small states have less resources than larger states, making them
more vulnerable to their external environment. Small states may seek ‘shelter’
with larger states or international organisations to counteract their
vulnerability. The thesis will ask how perceived vulnerability influences the
formation of European identity and whether European identity offers a form of
shelter by being conceptualised as a support for Scottish independence. Twitter: @asbmackie
Thesis
topic: ‘Curating Heritage for
Sustainable Communities in Highly Vulnerable Environments: The Case of Scotland’s
Northern Isles’, supervised by Ullrich Kockel,
Donna
Heddle and Ian
Tait.
Catherine
is undertaking practice-based research with people in the archipelagos of
Orkney and Shetland. Her research is funded through an SGSAH ARC Studentship. The research practice is a project to co-curate
a virtual museum of the Northern Isles, and
is funded by Museums Galleries Scotland, the Hugh Fraser Foundation and
Shetland Museum and Archives. Catherine’s interests include creative ethnology;
exploring the radical politics of co-curation as a mode for communities
mobilising shared authority and cultural democracy towards more socially just
and sustainable futures; collaborative deliberation of value formation and
social learning for sustainable development; identity-work; and developing new
ways of knowing and working through praxis. For more information on Catherine’s
background and research, click here. Twitter: @kittyjmac
Michael does research in Deaf
people and the Performing Arts. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in medicine, but
has also spent much of his career as a theatre practitioner, making a
particular contribution to youth theatre. His book Youth
Theatre, Drama for Life (Routledge) was published in 2015. His PhD
thesis is exploring the participation of Deaf people in theatre. He has
presented papers drawing on his research in conferences in events in Scotland,
Ireland and France. For a list of Michael’s publications, please click here.
Twitter: @mr38_richardson
Thesis topic: Brexit
and Heritage Futures in Scotland: The Auld Alliance – Establishing a
Counter-Heritage, supervised by Katerina
Strani andMáiréad
Nic Craith
As one of the longest
relationship in the history, the Auld Alliance challenges the recent Brexit
discourse, which seeks to establish a new geography outside of Europe. In its
pursuit of a separatist utopia free from bonds of European policy, Brexit
offers a fictionalised geography that denies Scotland’s seven centuries of
European cultural belonging. Marc’s PhD research is an exploration of the Auld
Alliance as a re-reading of Scotland’s heritage discourse with a view to
establishing a counter-heritage (to that which lies in the wings post-Brexit),
one that establishes an identity that cannot readily disentangle itself from
European culture. In a country where almost 20% of its population are in fact
from foreign origin and in which 5% of the total population came from European
Union, such political discourse endangers its multicultural stability. Perhaps
it is reflection of why Scotland voted to remain at 63%.
Thesis topic: Interpreting Istanbul Grand Bazaar as a traditional marketplace:
contemporary cultural discourse, supervised by Babak
Taheri and Máiréad
Nic Craith
This research is intrigued by work of cultural discourse scholars, including Foucault, Said and Bakhtin, whose theory of cultural consumption space provides with the conceptual vocabularies such as ‘orientalism’ and the ‘third space’. These spaces are unusual, anti-structured and exceptional. Framed within such notions, the material and imaginary landscape of Istanbul Bazaar offers such venue for cultural consumption experience in non-Western context. The primary aim of this study is to bring together contemporary cultural discourse in a traditional marketplace, with particular focus on the Istanbul Bazaar, testing the usefulness of such theory as an interpretive framework in a specific exceptional space in non-Western context. More specifically, this study aims to offer insight into an understanding of Western consumers’ journey and experience, examining the dynamic process that flows from pre-visit to post-visit. The mixed-method approach is used to collect data from both visitors and locals in order to answer the aim of this study. The qualitative approach is applied using observation, netnography and interviews, while the quantitative approach is applied using questionnaires. For a list of Ozge’s publications, please click here.
Click here to see a version of this blogpost in British Sign Language (BSL).
While I am on research sabbatical from Heriot-Watt University I am fortunate to be spending my time as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh (see here for overview of what I am working on).
As part of my fellowship I have been able to avail of IASH facilities to organize a workshop with a leading scholar in the field of Deaf Studies, Dr Annelies Kusters, to bring together a small group of researchers who work with sign language data. The 2-day workshop took place on 25-26 October 2018 and was by invitation only. Our priority was to invite deaf and hearing researchers that are fluent British Sign Language (BSL) users, and who are currently grappling with issues either to do with the analysis of qualitative sign language data, or are exploring new and innovative qualitative research methods. One of the reasons we wanted to ensure that everyone is a fluent BSL user is because we wanted to avoid holding discussions through interpreters, to allow for more in-depth and organic discussions. And this certainly worked!
The majority of the 12 attendees were my colleagues and PhD students from the Department of Languages and Intercultural Studies at Heriot-Watt University, but we also had several attendees from other UK universities and also one Finnish university.
The first day (Thursday) was dedicated to the discussion of different approaches to data analysis, and the second day (Friday) was devoted to methodologies. Each participant was asked to give a 15-minute presentation about their topic and we built in plenty of time for discussion. The projects being conducted by the group range from experiences of deaf people seeking asylum in Finland, documentation of Indonesian Sign Language, explorations of professional and labour migration among deaf sign language users, family sign language policy, deaf tourism in Bali, video remote sign language interpreting in police settings, different perceptions of sign language interpreting, and experiences of deaf business owners, deaf professionals and deaf parents in social work contexts. As you would expect, such a range of projects calls for a range of approaches to data analysis and methodologies. Over the two days the following key issues were discussed:
How and whether to anonymise video data
Whether to directly code from sign language data or translate and code from written (representative) texts – and if so what and how to translate
Use of different software for coding (such as ELAN, Atlas.ti or N-Vivo)
Processes for deciding what and how to code
How to code observational fieldnotes, and saturation of observational data
Thematic coding as an organic or planned process
Using visual methods for data collection and analysis – eco-maps, photos, film-making, social media networking sites
Data coding fatigue
Benefits of documenting analytical decisions as part of the research process
Value of having conversations with others about coding/ annotation/ analytical processes
Challenges of how and what to code
Power dynamics in interviewing participants
Positionality and the observer’s paradox
Reflexivity in planning, reviewing data collection and data analysis
Ethics of recruiting and interviewing disadvantaged people, and methods for gaining consent
Building rapport and trust with research participants
How to create semi-authentic simulations of sign language (interpreted) interactions
Interviewing directly or through interpreters
Methods for taking fieldnotes
This exploratory workshop was a huge success, so we hope to make it an annual event, and open it up to other sign language researchers. Many of the issues we dissected are not unique to sign language researchers by any means, but being able to come together and have the space to have open and frank conversations about our work in sign language was a rare and much valued opportunity. We are considering a proposal for an edited volume based on the format of this workshop, so hopefully that will be a book that we can add to the IASH library one day!
We are very pleased to announce that our EU-funded Moving Languages project has now come to an end! The 27-month project (2016-2018), led by Learnmera Oy in Finland with LINCS at Heriot-Watt as a partner, developed a free mobile application designed to help new migrants learn the host language(s) and familiarise themselves with culture-specific vocabulary and concepts. A user-friendly, versatile and comprehensive app, it also aims to encourage people to learn other languages and promote understanding between cultures.
The Moving Languages app provides a gamified language- and culture-learning tool. It contains 4000+ illustrated vocabulary items for easy concept recognition, grammar exercises, flashcards, reading comprehension, listening comprehension, culture, administration, health and immigration tabs, dialogues with audio, audio spelling and comprehension tests and many other features. The app covers topics that are essential during the first steps of living in the host country.
Users can learn English, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Finnish (main languages) from 20 support languages widely spoken by refugees/migrants in partner countries:
They can also use the main languages as support languages if they wishes. This means that if you download the English app, you can learn English from 25 languages in total.
We launched the app at an event held in June 2018 and held our final meeting in Bilbao on 4th October 2018 to finalise the app and the project. It has been a pleasure to work with our international partners in this project and to engage with users who have tried our app.
The project may have ended, but our apps will be available for free for the next 3 years, so please download them, try them, and send us your feedback!