Notice Board

The School of Liberal Education invites you to join us for the following presentation:

Doing research on doing good: Examining the social construction, performance, and representation of ethical identities

Speaker:  Dr. Kaylan Schwarz (PhD - University of Cambridge)
Day/Date:  Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Time:  9:15 a.m.
Zoom:  https://uleth.zoom.us/j/93324179300

My research examines the social construction, performance, and representation of ethical identities in formal, informal and community education contexts. In this research talk, I will introduce key findings from three separate yet interconnected empirical research projects examining the experiences and perspectives of (1) undergraduate students who undertake short-term international volunteer excursions, (2) craft market vendors who sell artisanal goods in support of women’s empowerment and development initiatives, and (3) undergraduate students enrolled in women’s studies or gender-themed courses who identify as feminist. Across these divergent settings, I will consider the ways participants grapple with the evolving complexities of ethical identities, position themselves and others in relation to these identities, and choose to represent these identities through photographs and material objects. Methodologically, I will reflect on my use of qualitative, visual, and participatory research techniques – including their strengths, limitations and future alternative possibilities – and address deeper epistemological questions about what the data allow us to know. Finally, I will demonstrate my ongoing commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship, which involves connecting and integrating a range of conceptual frameworks from the humanities, arts and social sciences literatures to complexify how accounts of being good and doing good are told.

Everyone is welcome.