Talks

I often give keynote lectures and present invited papers at seminars. This page links to several recent ones where I’ve been captured on video. I have divided these in three general realms:

* Talks about my research
* Talks about research methods
* Talks about academic writing, planning, and the mechanics of conducting research.

Research talks:

March 22nd, 2021.Institut Barcelona Estudis Internacionals, IBEI. Barcelona, Spain.
The Global Politics of Bottled Water

October 23rd, 2020.International Studies Institute, University of New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
The Comparative Politics of Bottled Water

Ethnography, qualitative and mixed methods

Tübingen Summer School “Schreiben in Der Qualitativen Forschung” 2021, Universität Tübingen

Writing is the major tool of research production and dissemination. Whether it is in natural sciences and engineering, the humanities, or social sciences, we write to piece together our understanding of the world, to communicate our ideas, and to build and improve knowledge. Writing helps us advance as a global society. While scholarly writing is challenging in and of itself, producing text that portrays and discusses the realities of vulnerable populations is much harder. Issues of representation, participation, positionality, insider-outsider roles, heterogeneity, and vulnerability all come up when considering whether and how to write about marginalized communities. In this keynote talk, I will walk you through some examples drawn from my research on water insecurity, toilet insecurity, informal waste picking and homelessness to discuss a few broad guidelines regarding how to write about marginalized and vulnerable populations in a way that is respectful, dignified, truthful and empowering. I will also discuss the unique challenges facing qualitative researchers and the multiple opportunities that qualitative research training offers to engage with communities at the margins in a meaningful way.