Digital storytelling and its potential to disrupt power imbalances in qualitative research with the ‘subaltern’ – November 24th, 2022, 1:30pm

Abstract:

Concerns about power discrepancies between researchers and research participants in qualitative studies are not new. Scholarship on methodology eloquently articulates how power disparities manifest in qualitative studies. Feminist research has contributed significantly to recommending ways of overcoming the differentials in power between researchers and participants. Drawing on lessons learnt in my projects with Black students, this presentation contributes to the above conversations by reflecting on digital storytelling and its potential to destabilize the idea of dominant researchers and weak research participants in qualitative studies with those on the periphery. The discussion focuses on data collection and knowledge mobilization.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Selina Mudavanhu is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Studies and Media Arts Department in the Humanities Faculty at McMaster. She holds a PhD in Media Studies from the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town (South Africa). Her research interests include critical media studies, critical race studies and digital storytelling. Mudavanhu is currently convening several funded projects that use digital storytelling and focus on diversity and inclusion in postsecondary institutions in Canada and South Africa.

Logistics:

The seminar will take place in the SIS Meeting Room, ABB C520 at 13:30 on Thursday 24 November. If you are unable to attend in-person, you will be able to join remotely by clicking the below Zoom link.

https://mcmaster.zoom.us/j/97246397288?pwd=TWc5VkdIQVBERVpUVW9XWHpnMzM3UT09
Meeting ID: 972 4639 7288
Passcode: 753142

For further information please contact the Seminar Series organiser Dr Alexander Hall (halla45@mcmaster.ca)