It is December 18th and, as every year, all PhD students and professors of the Department of Politics and Social Sciences of the University of Catania come together to engage in a broad discussion of the numerous researches in a joint conference. The doctoral conference lasts three days and is structured in thematic panels. This form allows for constructive debates and the opportunity to network with people working on similar topics.
We, as the three PhD students of the C-Urge network, presented different arguments and perspectives of our field research on the second day. As all three of us were in the middle of our field research at this moment, Suranga and Avishka joined us via Zoom from their field sites in Sri Lanka. Together with our colleagues Valeria Arcia Holguin and Daman Singh, we were able to raise many different aspects of our different yet interrelated research in the panel.
In the individual presentations, we could present individual aspects of our ongoing research. For all of us, the conference was therefore also an opportunity for initial reflection and possible feedback that we could take with us into the final phases of our fieldwork. In her presentation, Avishka was able to present the results of her digital field research and explain what implications these had for her field research. Suranga introduced different levels of his research and how he links observations he has already made to his research topic, while Luisa's presentation focused mainly on the critical reflection of the development of her research design and the theorization of this process.
Our professor and supervisor, Mara Benadusi, helped in a concluding commentary to connect the various levels and aspects of the very different research and to work out links and also differences. It became clear that the very different positionalities in the fields of research raise a range of interesting observations on the topic. It also emerged that research about climate change and the urgency that goes with it not only raises questions about human-environment relationships, but also about how people behave towards each other, and what systems and networks we use to react to the changes that this transformation brings with it.
(Text credit : Avishka Sendanayake)
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