This workshop is intended for post-fieldwork students in the process of writing their final dissertations.

Participants will explore auto-reflexivity (Heinze 2020) as a discursive and embodied practice for processing and documenting the researcher experience. The workshop will encourage participants to consider their positionality and unique dynamics of their field sites in relation to opportunities and risks to personal safety and emotional wellbeing. After historically and contextually defining both reflexivity and auto-reflexivity, we will discuss practical application in participants’ field sites. Participants will review excerpts from auto-reflexive methodologies and individually reflect on self-care and self-advocacy strategies through a guided embodiment exercise, designed to bring self-compassion to adverse experiences in the field. Participants will leave with an understanding of auto-reflexivity and strategies for writing about their research and its impact on researcher health and wellbeing.

Learning Objectives

To explore the concept of auto-reflexivity and its application to social science research.

Participants will:

● Explore the overlaps and differences between reflexivity and auto-reflexivity;

● Discover strategies for practical application in the field and upon return, during

the writing stage;

● Critique real-life examples of discursive auto-reflexivity;

● Practice embodied auto-reflexivity vis-á-vis a guided, meditation-style reflection

Facilitated by BeDo, a student-led and female-founded wellbeing initiative for impact-driven individuals.

Returning From the Field: Reflecting on Adverse Fieldwork Experiences