Center for Interpretive and Qualitative Research (CIQR -- "seeker")*

(E-mail memo:  Oct. 30, 2007)

Date:  Nov. 15 (Thurs.), 2007, 4:30-6:00PM, Berger Gallery, 207 College Hall, Duquesne University

Presenter:  Professor Marco Gemignani, Dept. of Psychology, Duquesne University

Marco Gemignani publishes in the field of multicultural psychology, qualitative research, constructivist therapy, and social constructionism. He is currently interested in exploring the socially-constructed links among migration, cultural identity, and mental health.
 
Title:  "Between researcher and researched: Methodological and clinical intertwining  from the study of refugees"

Abstract:  I will present some methodological complications I have encountered while researching refugees' narratives of identity, home, and return.  My primary intent is to accompany the audience through the exploration of key methodological questions of research design, data analysis, and reflexivity.  First, I will outline some of the rationales and dilemmas that informed the choice of my research methodologies (narrative inquiry and discourse analysis) and their relevance for the field of clinical psychology. Closely related to this topic, I will interrogate the social constructions and practices of one of the most common diagnoses for refugees: PTSD. Lastly, I will explore the difficult moments of methodological as well as psychological challenge and wandering related to the need to embrace the impossible (and sterile) separation of the researcher from the researched. I will argue that, similarly to the analysis of transference and counter-transference in psychotherapy, the exploration of the relationship between the two subjects constitutes a rich and critical source of research information and reflexivity.

All interested faculty, graduate students, and other parties are invited.