Workshops

The multispecies or more-than-human turn asks the researcher to widen the research lens and include things and beings that often have been excluded by Euro-Western social sciences and humanities. But as Bell et al. (2018) wrote in Area, the “‘how’ of more-than-human research is not straightforward and is often not described in detail, or is otherwise rendered a little strange, improper, messy or experimental.”

So how do we do more-than-human methodologies?

Join us for a workshop exploring how to account for the more-than-human in critical qualitative research. Four researchers will present the methodologies they have developed to include plants, animals, a river, and non-sentient things.

This methodology workshop, hosted by the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research, takes an expansive understanding of health to explore themes related to living and eating during today’s concurrent ecological and social crises that endanger human and more-than-human health and wellbeing.

Panelists:

Noha Fikry, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
Aparna Menon, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Carlos Sanchez-Pimienta, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Arnika Peselmann, PhD, Julius-Maximilians University Wurzburg, Germany

Organized and moderated by Sarah Elton, PhD, Toronto Metropolitan University

The event will take place in person at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health on Wednesday, May 8th, 12:30-2 p.m.

Attendees will be invited to prepare for the workshop by reading an article selected by the panelists in advance of the date.

Instructor: Dr. Katherine Tamminen

Dates and Time: March 4 and 11, 2022 from 1:00-2:30 PM EDT

Description: Open science and open research practices are becoming required or recommended for researchers across disciplines. Funding agencies, journals, and academic institutions are increasingly implementing guidelines and policies about requirements for researchers to engage in various open research practices, including pre-registering research studies, making data and methods open and available for future re-use, and open-access publications. Some qualitative researchers have engaged with these practices to varying degrees, while others have resisted and remain concerned about open research practices.

This two-part workshop will address practical issues related to engaging in open research practices, and it will also engage participants in a critical discussion about issues and concerns associated with open science in qualitative inquiry.

As a result of participating in this workshop, participants will:

• learn about open research practices such as pre-registration of research studies, open data, open methods, and open-access publications
• learn about requirements and guidelines for open research that are being implemented by funding agencies, publishing organizations, and academic institutions
• gain an understanding of issues associated with engaging in open research practices in qualitative research
• consider the economic, political, and onto-epistemological critiques of open research practices within qualitative inquiry

The workshop will consist of presentations, discussions, and hands-on activities where participants will have the opportunity to work through their own research ideas and consider whether and how to engage in open research practice in their own work. Participants will 1) gain a better understanding of the basic approaches and practices of open science, 2) be able to consider the implications of engaging in open research practices in their own qualitative research studies, and 3) understand the concerns and critiques of open research practices in qualitative inquiry. 

Tickets are $20 for students and $40 for professionals.

Spaces are limited. Register here.

Friday, April 1st, 2022, 1:00 – 4:00 pm

On Zoom (link will be sent to those who register)

This workshop is for 1st and 2nd year PhD students who are Black, Indigenous or Racialized and who are conducting critical qualitative research in the health sciences at the University of Toronto. The focus of this workshop is for students to learn about and build on the support systems in place to help them navigate and succeed in their respective PhD programs. Academic supervisors, former and current PhD students, and university administrators will share their experiences and advice regarding power relations, dominant discourses, and discrimination regarding racialized students who are using non-dominant health science methodologies (i.e., critical qualitative research). Presenters will discuss specific challenges and practical responses relating to the compounding structural barriers often faced by Indigenous, Black, and other racialized students in academia (e.g. addressing power relations between students and supervisors, understanding the intersections of gender and race in Canadian universities). Participants will have the opportunity to discuss such issues and ‘speak back’ by proposing peer support systems, research networks, or other collaborative strategies they consider will promote their academic success for which CQ (and possibly other university departments/faculties) will aim to provide support.

Workshop Moderator: Ruth Rodney, CQ Fellow, Faculty of Nursing, York University

Speakers and Facilitators:

Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research (CQ):

Rupaleem Bhuyan, CQ Fellow, Faculty of Social Work
Denise Gastaldo, CQ Educational Coordinator, Faculty of Nursing

Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH):

Tenzin Butsang, PhD Student
Amy Shawanda, Indigenous Health Post-Doctoral Fellow
Roberta K. Timothy, Black Health Lead

University of Toronto:

Natasha Prashad, Program Coordinator, Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office

Ontario Universities:

Priscilla Boakye, Faculty of Nursing, Ryerson University
Nadia Prendergast, Faculty of Nursing, Ryerson University
Ruth Rodney, CQ Fellow, Faculty of Nursing, York University

Agenda

First Session: Doctoral Education: Struggles, Strategies and Resources (90 min)

Objectives of the session:

• Understand how social class, gender and race may impact dissertation supervision, research recognition, and career choices
• Explore structural power dynamics at play in the university from a macro to micro-scale
• Recognise the added barriers that racialized students often face in accessing their rights and potential strategies to overcome such hurdles
• Describe support systems and resources in place for PhD students across U of T.

Panelists (alphabetical):

Rupaleem Bhuyan, CQ Fellow, Faculty of Social Work
Tenzin Butsang, PhD Student
Denise Gastaldo, CQ Educational Coordinator
Natasha Prashad, Program Coordinator, Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office
Ruth Rodney, CQ Fellow, Faculty of Nursing, York University
Amy Shawanda, Indigenous Health Post-Doctoral Fellow
Roberta K. Timothy, Black Health Lead

Panelists will respond to the following questions (45 minutes):

• Based on your experience, what potential power struggles might students encounter in their doctoral education?
• What strategies and resources could support Indigenous, Black and other racialized PhD students in their doctoral education?

Group Discussion (45 minutes)

Break (15 min)

Second Session: Building Networks for Success (75 min)

Objectives of the session:

• Explore existing and potential strategies for community building, peer support, collaboration, and self-organization within U of T and beyond
• Formulate ideas, strategies, and initiatives amongst workshop participants that are deemed useful outcomes of the workshop
• Identifying the necessary support systems and resources required for these initiatives to take place.

Facilitators (alphabetical):

Priscilla Boakye, Faculty of Nursing, Ryerson University
Nadia Prendergast, Faculty of Nursing, Ryerson University
Ruth Rodney, CQ Fellow, Faculty of Nursing, York University

In a group discussion, students and facilitators will address the following questions:

• What are current challenges for Black, Indigenous and other racialized students’ research and career development?
• How to build networks to mobilize strategies and resources to overcome current challenges and achieve success?

Notes from the second session will be shared with all participants.

Register here.

Instructors: Noah Kenneally, PhD(c) OISE, University of Toronto, Dr. Julia Gray, Holland Bloorview, Dr. Clara Juando-Prats, St. Michael’s Hospital

Summary: This 4 day workshop was designed to deepen participants’ knowledge and practice of graphic, visual, and performative methods as part of their research or teaching. The four modules began an introduction to using arts (visual and performance) in research practices and progressively moved to more advanced content specific to three areas of arts as research practice.

Dates: June 24 – 27, 2019

For full details, view the full poster here 

Instructors: Noah Kenneally, PhD(c) OISE, University of Toronto and Dr. Clara Juando-Prats, AHRC/IPBR, St. Michael’s Hospital

Dates: May 30, June 6, and June 13, 2018

Summary: This three-day workshop was an introduction to using graphic arts (drawing, sketching, comics, and mixed media) as a research practice. Participants explored perception through the use of graphic arts in research; experimented and developed reflexive and observational research skills based on visual arts techniques; learned arts-based tools to generate data; and identified and practiced different analytical processes. Using a social critical lens, this workshop supported the development of graphic research skills that could be used in every phase of the research process.

For further details, see attached poster

Date: June 2, 2016

This year CQ Method Talks focuses on the centrality and creativity of the researcher in generating, analyzing and communicating qualitative data. Using concrete examples from different approaches to qualitative research, each presenter will discuss how they think about and use methods to generate data and to translate and exchange knowledge with a variety of audiences.  The series concludes with a discussion about how to thrive as a qualitative researcher in the health sciences.  View the event Flyer here.

Date: April 1, 2016

This was a special event to celebrate the Special Issue of Qualitative Inquiry, “Teaching Qualitative Research as Transgressive Practices”, guest-edited by Dr. Ping-Chun Hsiung. The event was co-sponsored by Department of Sociology (University of Toronto, Scarborough), Sociology’s Graduate Program (University of Toronto, St. George), and the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research (University of Toronto, CQ).

View the event Invitation for more information.

Date: February 25, 2015

The Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research (CQ) and the Health Care, Technology and Place (HCTP) program collaborated to offer this half-day session for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in CQ and HCTP, which aimed to provide an overview of mixed methods in health sciences research including benefits, challenges, and strategies for success in designing and conducting mixed methods health research.

Detailed workshop program

Date: January 23, 2014

Moderated by (alphabetically): Joan Eakin (Dalla Lana School of Public Health); Denise Gastaldo (Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and Dalla Lana School of Public Health); Brenda Gladstone (SickKids Foundation/CIHR New Investigator, Community Health Systems Group); Elizabeth Peter (Chair, Health Sciences Research Ethics Board: Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing)

View a recording of the session.