'Doing' trans ecologies: enacting methodological vulnerability through graphic participation

How can we hold space for co-theorising with participants, such as trans and nonbinary people, who may feel alienated or vulnerable in academic settings? How can we create safety and connection when researching sensitive topics and difficult experiences? This workshop explores the use of graphic participatory methods to unsettle implicit hierarchies in research encounters, advancing an argument for practicing methodological vulnerability in (geographical) research. It draws on a recent project with trans participants that examined everyday practices and experiences of gender in the altered ecologies of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing was used as a way of opening up a space of collective enquiry, feeding into the production of an experimental graphic novel. The workshop will begin with a presentation reflecting on the methodological advantages and challenges of working in this way. The presentation will be followed by a hands-on workshop, using drawing to facilitate group conversation and critical reflection on the role of vulnerability in our own research practices. Please come with regular pens and paper, and feel free to bring any preferred drawing materials (some paper and coloured pencils will also be provided). No prior skills/experience assumed or required!

Suggested reading: Brice, S. (2024) 'Critical observational drawing in geography: Towards a methodology for "vulnerable" research', Progress in Human Geography, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 206-223 [Online]. DOl:10.1177/03091325231208899.

About Dr. Sage Brice

The research of Dr. Sage Brice (Durham University) develops 'Trans Ecologies' as a significant contribution to theorising the intersection of environmental geographies with social difference, asking how queer-trans readings of bodily plasticity, indeterminacy, and change can help to address the uncertainties and instabilities of accelerated planetary change. Specifically, it revolves around the proposition that conditions of ecological interdependence and mutual susceptibility might be understood not as passive states but as productive relational forces, reorienting how we think about questions of justice in relation to a range of vulnerabilities: environmental, climatic, ecological, political, social, ontological, and methodological.