Attend UGA QUAL Lab Speaker Series on Nov. 6

• Date: Monday, Nov. 6
• Time: Noon-1 p.m.
• Location: Zoom (register today)
• Presenter: Stephanie Anne Shelton, associate professor, University of Alabama

Join the UGA qualitative research program for the UGA QUAL Lab Speaker Series, “Queer(ing) (Dis)Comfort and Vulnerability in Qualitative Research,” presented by Stephanie Anne Shelton (Ph.D. ’16). Qualitative scholars often design research that invites participants to share their experiences and perspectives on personal and/or difficult topics. Throughout such projects, there is an understandable emphasis on “comfort.” Are the participants comfortable sharing? Does the research process make them uncomfortable? These are important considerations, but they are insufficient.

This presentation takes up a queer (dis)comfort, which positions discomfort and uncertainty as productive and even sought-after spaces through examples from and discussions of research projects in which commonplace engagements with (dis)comfort are elasticized and expanded to consider the degrees to which context shapes (dis)comfort and vulnerability, and the implications of stretching these concepts to include researchers’ needs and experiences.