Feel the fear and do it anyway: Intellectual risk taking and harnessing the politics of dis/comfort

Facilitator: Associate Professor Sarah Lawson-Welsh

RDF Indicator: A3

Programme: PGR Research Skills Programme 2021-22

Theme: Research Methods

Session Overview:

This session provides a chance to think about the nature of researcher fear and the benefits of intellectual risk-taking, using Sarah’s own research in global food studies as a case study and drawing upon the theoretical writing on dis/comfort of feminist thinkers such as Sara Ahmed, Rachelle Chadwick (and others). There will be opportunities to review your individual and collective ‘comfort zones’ as a researcher and you will be encouraged to think further – and reflexively – about the politics of dis/comfort in your own individual research praxis and the ways in which you can harness this to develop research strategies which challenge privileged positions of ignorance or ‘comfortable truths’ (Chadwick 2021).

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the session, you will have a clearer sense of your individual and collective comfort zones as a researcher and better awareness of a range of strategies that you can put in place to harness intellectual risk-taking in your research in positive and productive ways.

You can book your place on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway-intellectual-risk-taking-tickets-199240923967

This event will be recorded